What is the Cloud?

Technology is evolving at a breakneck pace and many people feel left behind, not even understanding proper terminologies and concepts. One such subject of confusion is the cloud.

Many people, whether or not they are aware of it, have data they store on the cloud or that they stream from the cloud. It’s important to note that your data is not actually up in the clouds.

In simpler terms, the cloud is basically a group of high-storage computers elsewhere onto which you can store copies of such things as your phone contacts, documents and photos or from which you can enjoy movies through Netflix or music through Spotify.

Being able to use the cloud allows you to not have to store all of this information on your devices.

We see a increase in cloud-based services largely due to the improving technologies of high-speed internet, which allow us to send and receive this information at more convenient speeds.
Your iPhone uses the cloud for such things as off-site backups and photo storage. You can also use the cloud to manage your data on much of the Google suite including Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive.

Some consumers are uneasy about having their sensitive data stored somewhere else, fearing a loss of control. Those are legitimate concerns, although many of the rest of us are simply resigned to the reality that in the age we live in the genie is already out of the bottle and it often seems a lost cause to spend too much energy worrying about things we either do not fully understand nor cannot easily control.