It’s all well and good until the darn cloud is gone…so which is better, streaming or downloading?
The cloud is a wonderful thing, and it can mean and be many different things to many different people. However, no matter what it is, no matter what it does, the cloud has one big problem. Users must rely on the internet to get access to it and its resources.
This means different things to different people, depending on your location. In Europe, with the requirement for ubiquitous 3G coverage throughout the European Union, and with high speed internet coming from cable and satellite providers, people can get access to the cloud and its technology from just about anywhere. In the US, it’s a little different.
There are still many states that are without complete 3G coverage and, in some cases, without broadband internet. The problem with all of this is that many new and soon to launch services, like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and iCloud rely on internet access to provide the service. Slower speed services like dial-up, DSL/ADSL and EDGE don’t handle the download requirements well, and performance of these services over these slower access services, is poor. So, there’s a problem with these streaming services when service is inconsistent.
When service simply stops – i.e. when your network connection is totally interrupted via a power outage or a service outage, when the cloud evaporates – there’s a huge problem. There is no service. Without a local copy of whatever resources you’re trying to access, you’re out of luck.
Services like Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and Amazon Prime – those that rely on streaming for service delivery (with or without any kind of local cached data) – aren’t functional when network service is interrupted. Services like iCloud, which run through iTunes and may have a complete, local copy of the content you are trying to enjoy, may be better, provided they switch to the local copy if communication with the host service is interrupted. At the very least, you could restart the media and fast forward the audio or video on the local copy to the point you were at on the streamed copy provided you can put your hands on it.
The problem is consistent, high speed network access and the fact that it isn’t available everywhere, all the time. The problem is also storage space on your PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet. SD & HD video can often vary in size from about 1GB to 4GB. When many smartphones and tablets often have 8GB to 16GB of storage to start, it makes it hard to store a complete movie or TV show on your device. If you do, you run the risk of running out of needed space for mail, pictures or other items.
The bottom line is this – until internet access reaches utility status (like water or electricity), users are going to have to choose between using your internet access and streaming content to where ever you are, or carrying it with you. If you stream and you bump into a connectivity problem, you won’t get your content. If you store locally and need space later, you may not be able to add content (like pictures) on the fly. You’re going to have to be willing to choose one or the other and be aware of its limitations.
