>Mint.com sends you an email. If Mint.com did not have unencrypted access to your data, it could not provide you with this service.
That's a terrible example. If this is your primary argument for web services, then they've been obsolete since cron came with UNIX V7 in 1979.
On Mac OS X, without even running the app, iCal has no problem sending me an email to notify me of an upcoming event. How does it accomplish this magical feat? It runs a background process that just happens to have access to my local calendar database, because it's already on my computer.
>The in-the-cloud services which provide the most value to me could not exist without being able to process my data in the background.
And you would have a very difficult time actually using those services without access to a personal computer that already has far more resources at hand to do the same processing itself.
Yes, and your local computer must be on, the software must be running, etc. Want that email delivered to your phone, your work computer, etc.? My example is hardly the best one, but it was simple and commonly understood.
If you don't turn your computer on at least once a day, then chances are you aren't reading your email on it.
Run your calendar/bill-reminder software on the machine you use the most (which you'd do naturally, anyway) — whether it be your phone, your laptop, or wherever — and the justification for remote hosting collapses.
Unless you're away from your usual location for a couple of weeks, in which case this type of remote hosting is pretty darn useful (unless your primary computer is your smartphone, but not everyone has one).
Comments
>Mint.com sends you an email. If Mint.com did not have unencrypted access to your data, it could not provide you with this service.
That's a terrible example. If this is your primary argument for web services, then they've been obsolete since cron came with UNIX V7 in 1979.
On Mac OS X, without even running the app, iCal has no problem sending me an email to notify me of an upcoming event. How does it accomplish this magical feat? It runs a background process that just happens to have access to my local calendar database, because it's already on my computer.
>The in-the-cloud services which provide the most value to me could not exist without being able to process my data in the background.
And you would have a very difficult time actually using those services without access to a personal computer that already has far more resources at hand to do the same processing itself.
Yes, and your local computer must be on, the software must be running, etc. Want that email delivered to your phone, your work computer, etc.? My example is hardly the best one, but it was simple and commonly understood.
Yes, many apps will benefit from an always-on server. Must we rely on a Mega Corp just for some strange desire to turn everything off?
If you don't turn your computer on at least once a day, then chances are you aren't reading your email on it.
Run your calendar/bill-reminder software on the machine you use the most (which you'd do naturally, anyway) — whether it be your phone, your laptop, or wherever — and the justification for remote hosting collapses.
Unless you're away from your usual location for a couple of weeks, in which case this type of remote hosting is pretty darn useful (unless your primary computer is your smartphone, but not everyone has one).