Cloud Computing

Cloud Storage

When I started this week, I knew that cloud storage was a way of storing your files other than on your computer, however I did not know where they were. When I thought of the cloud, all I could think was files just floating around in the sky, but of course I knew this was not realistic. 

After reading the New York Times article, I learned that the files are stored on hard drives mostly owned by larger companies. The files can also move across different servers which makes for much more efficient computers. 

Safety

When I first hear about cloud storage, especially not knowing much about it, I thought that it was not a very safe way to keep my files. It seemed that if my files were out there on other people's hard rives that it would people more access to them. However, the article mentioned above says that your files are actually safer in the cloud. After thinking about it, it made sense because there are billions of other files that they are stored with, so the chances of your files being stolen or compromised are actually much smaller.

Google vs Microsoft

When comparing Google and Microsoft, I found that at first glance there are not that many differences between the two, even their logos are similar. I am much more familiar with Google's apps so it seemed a lot simpler and easier to me. I also thought that Google had a lot more apps to choose from, and some useful features in the editor that Microsoft didn't have. The most important one was the discover tool in Google Docs which allows you to search the internet right from your document. As the Ted Talk by Daniel Russell explains, we can get answers to any question so easily now, which is especially true with the discover tool. There are even tools like Google Scholar that help find articles that are reliable. Even thought Microsoft is perfectly capable of completing your everyday tasks, I would choose Google because of those tools, and because I like the color scheme and easy access from my google chrome browser.