I'm pretty sure that most of the Tech bloggers here do a lot of work in the cloud (I know that Brad, Buzz, and I do). And while I recommend a lot of cloud computing services (like Gmail and Google Reader ), I rely on desktop apps to connect to those services and get things done. While I like having backups in the cloud ( DropBox and CrashPlan ) I also have local backups using TimeMachine. Why these half-cloud, half-app solutions? Because The Cloud isn't perfect, yet, and I'm not the only one who feels this way:

“Cloud computing” has easily replaced “Web 2.0” as the current trendy buzzword. The state of California is even turning to it for government systems. I have to say, however, that I have serious reservations about heavily implementing cloud computing in my own work flow. I believe that cloud computing is the killer app of the future, but the future isn’t quite here yet. Don’t get me wrong. I do make limited use of cloud computing applications, especially Gmail. But mostly, I don’t feel comfortable putting my entire computing life “in the cloud”. Here’s why.


link: Why I Don’t Trust the Cloud

The lesson here isn't to lag behind and not try or even rely on services in The Cloud, the lesson is to be pragmatic with your choices and trust. Here are some tips for trying Cloud services:

  • Make backups of what you're putting online
  • Don't ditch the desktop app completely (or just yet)
  • Make sure you can get your data out of the cloud and in a useable format (e.g. getting RSS feeds as opml or address books as CSV)
  • Don't put mission critical information or tasks in the Cloud right away

Will Cloud services become reliable for mission-critical services? Oh sure, of that I have no doubt. What it will take is a lot more work on fail-overs and redundant servers. But since even Gmail/Google isn't immune to failures so I don't think, we'll be seeing Cloud services being 100% reliable for a while yet.

On the other hand, I have redundant backups because my laptop isn't 100% reliable either!