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Here is a simple question posed by Harry McCracken on his Technologizer blog on Time.com:
“Pretend, for a moment, that some kind soul has given you $1299 to spend on any portable computer you choose. If you’d plunk it down for a Chromebook, you’re seriously committed to Google’s vision of a browser-centric world in which computers boot up instantly, everything is stored on the Internet and consumers don’t have to fret about operating-system updates and security holes. And if you’d spend your dough on a MacBook or Windows laptop instead, you’re saying that you’re not ready to give up conventional computing for Google’s cloud-centric dream.”
Sweetening the deal, the Google Chromebook Pixel “cloud enabled” device comes with 1 Terabyte of cloud storage for free…an $1,800 value. Do you care?
I am wagering a guess that a vast majority of us will opt for the Windows 8 Ultrabook or Apple MacBook Air and perhaps an external hard drive for bulk storage over the Pixel and it’s 32GB of on-board flash storage and 1 Terabyte of online cloud storage. Am I right?
If so, why is that? Maybe it’s because the cloud is not all its cracked up to be…at least not yet. It’s still faster and more cost effective to have your files local. It may not offer the most mobile experience with the whole anytime, anywhere, on any device mantra of cloud, but there are ways around that as well. They’re called home NAS products. Most home NAS solutions like Seagate’s new Central or Business Storage series offer software that enables you, or anyone you grant access, to get that anywhere anytime on any device experience.
Call it personal cloud. Call it remote access. Call it whatever you want…it’s still exponentially less expensive for 4 Terabytes of local storage than 1 Terabyte of public cloud storage, and quite a bit faster when tethered directly to the device. And unfortunately for those that want to make cloud the great hard drive in the sky for all of the consumers data storage, money talks.
I’m a cloud believer, a big cloud cheerleader, but not just public cloud…cloud in all its forms. And, if it so happens to take the form of a NAS box in your home, great! Enjoy that personal and private cloud experience…it’s well worth the investment.
Then again, if you are a big Google fan / user, as I also am, and you’re watering at the mouth for a Chromebook Pixel, go for it and let me know what you think. You just might be paving the way for the future of consumer computing and storage.
How would you spend that $1299.00?
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