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The Cloud is the biggest hustle in computing, going. You lose control of your own stuff. Someone else can seize it, look at it, even modify it without your knowledge. And in this new era where so much data is 'criminal', you could even be charged with crimes, with zero culpability.

I had not really made up my mind about clound computing, but this just did it for me.

Sorry, but the cloud is great with common sense because it makes things readily available anywhere on any device. Just use common sense and a hybrid approach.

1. If private in nature and you wouldn’t want anyone to see it then don’t put it on cloud.
2. If desired, make a local copy of anything you don’t mind being on the cloud, but that you want to maintain control over (for email this can be done with .pst files etc.).

The cloud is great, but only part of an overall solution to data availability.

Sure, many Luddites who don't know any better (or have an agenda) will point to this as an example of why cloud computing is a bad thing. Sort of like how the left wing will point to extremists like David Duke and Lyndon LaRouche to claim that conservatism is bad.

Fact is, this Hong Kong based file hosting company was on the fringe of "cloud computing". This is where people went to store illicit files such as pornography and pirated movies and music, etc. That's not to say that everybody that had an account with Megaupload was doing something illegal, no doubt, they signed up some naive law-abiding customers as well, but it was a well known haven for those that were trafficking in illegal files. Savvy computer users knew to stay away and stick with reputable cloud storage solutions - such as those offered by Google, Amazon, EMC and Apple.

Cloud-based storage is the way to go. I can now access my files from any device that has an internet connection. To me, it's all about access to my data, not a total backup solution. I still back up all my files locally so that in the unlikely event my cloud storage disappears, I'll have it all backed up elsewhere.