There are a lot of Cloud-Based networks out there that people use to share information with others and to share with other devices they use. Maybe they are working on something with a partner and need to ensure both parties can see any edits made by the other as they work on their part. Even an individual might want to be able to save a project on their desktop and be able to open it on their tablet without having to email it to themselves every time or put it on a flash drive. Flash drives could potentially become corrupted, break, or get lost. Personally, the main two Cloud-based systems I use weekly, sometimes daily, are Google Drive and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Adobe Creative Cloud is one of the many programs offered by Adobe- and it’s not just a single program. Creative Cloud is a set of programs, offered by Adobe, that gives it’s users unlimited access to a wide collection of software. Subscribers can use these collections to edit videos, for graphic design, web development, and even photography. Not only is there the main computer version but Adobe also has a mobile application. Adobe Creative Cloud has at least 38 different products and services that are offered, all supported on multiple operating systems and available in different packages available to purchase.
Google Drive began being offered to users back in 2012 as file storage and synchronization service. With a Drive account, you can open and edit a document on one computer- then after saving, can log into drive on another computer or tablet, and you can continue modifying the document. It’s not just for documents either, as you can upload photos to it and share them with other Google Drive accounts. They offer users 15 GB for free, with other sizes like 100 GB and 1 TB available through paid subscriptions. Google Drive allows viewing of over 25 file formats including JPEG, Adobe Photoshop, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Word. This application would probably not work well if it was not in the cloud, as sharing and editing in live time would be near impossible and the multitude of file formats available would possibly corrupt the files.
There will always be some form of privacy concern when using Cloud software. It could potentially make it easier for hackers to get into if opened on multiple devices- any of which could be at risk. There’s also the chance that, if on a public computer, someone forgets to log out of their account. Now, anyone who gets on that computer has access to anything in your Drive.