Over the past two, going on three years, I have made it clear that online storage and perhaps even network computing is likely to become a big business sometime down the road. And to be honest, I still believe this to be true. However, something that struck me recently is that we are trading this convenience at a high price. These days, we are losing privacy at an alarming rate already. What with identity theft, government regulations and half a dozen other things that put both our financial data as well as our own personal privacy at risk, online data storage could be feeding the beast of complacency. So is the concept of network computing and online storage really such a safe step in the right direction?

Well in theory, it ought to be perfectly safe, right? After all, our content would have to be hacked into and then somehow further compromised by seeing our data spilled over to the prying eyes of those who might want to exploit us either personally or financially. And with phishing at an all time high and constant onslaught of other security concerns, isn’t migrating to a truly virtual office just borrowing trouble? In many cases, I think it is and I think that all of us as a computing society might not be ready to make that leap just yet.

Folks, until we can get to a place where people learn that PCs are powerful and sometimes dangerous tools, I say nay to network computing and the close cousin known as online storage. Seriously, even if we know how to properly safe guard our data both at home and abroad, are you still willing to trust the company hosting your virtual drive with your level of common sense? Speaking for myself, I am just not ready to do that. Maybe someday when network security woes are thing of the past. That, or when pigs fly across the skies in formation similar to fighter squadrons of days gone by…