Led Zeppelin aside, Spotify’s announcement to offer their streaming service for ‘free*’ to mobile devices comes with a catch: *it is ad-supported, lower quality audio and lacks the ability to listen to music offline. While a nice convenience to not deal with importing tunes, etc. to an iPod (e.g., by carrying a separate device… remember those?) as the on-going push / rush to the Cloud continues – has anyone given any serious thought to the degree(s) of personal freedom sacrificed due to being tethered to the life-line (so to speak) that is Cloud Computing?
Granted, storage can be bigger than a local device, etc. but what happens when said lifeline goes down or there’s a catastrophic data failure whereas any given (or countless unwashed masses’) end-users’ data is lost, parsed, NSA-snooped, etc.? These possibilities / variables are all possible (and, in light of the on-going NSA surveillance disclosures highly likely). Yet, little or no serious pause for concern seems to be being paid… more than lip-service as the integration between said devices and the ‘Cloud’ continues to mushroom (no pun intended!) It seems like not just a matter of if but when some damning report comes to light regarding the aforementioned points (or, other related scenarios).
(Source) NY Times: http://goo.gl/3GRS5B