Amazon will be offering cheap plans to store infinite number of photos and limited sized files. Interesting to see how this will help or hinder the introduction of SAFE.
easy, Amazon controls what you store, allowing only certain file types. Count me out 
For $12 a year netizens can store an “infinite” number of photos on Amazon’s servers under the new Unlimited Photos Plan, along with 5GB of storage for other types of files. The $60 per annum Unlimited Everything Plan provides limitless storage of nearly any type of file, we’re told.
2 Likes
"As always, check the fine print before committing to using the service: for example, the terms and conditions grant Amazon “the rights to copy your files for backup purposes, modify your files to enable access in different formats, use information about your files to organize them on your behalf, and access your files to provide technical support.”
That should be enough for the privacy conscious peeps out there
1 Like
Well, any provider needs those rights and permissions, that’s really a minimum in this case.
It’s like giving a permission to your dentist to mess with your teeth (last time I had my tooth pulled I had to sign something just before I gave them a go; I haven’t read what I signed, but I assume it was something like I won’t sue them in case something bad happens).
A DIY approach we have here does away with that. It will be convenient and good for some people.
If MaidSafe could appeal to 10% of users, that would be tens of millions of users.
It’d be perfectly fine to save family photos on both Amazon and MaidSafe and use Amazon for one type of data and MaidSafe for another.
For example if I want to share family photos with my wider family members, I’d rather do it via Amazon (no need to educate grandma about MaidSafe), while I’d use MaidSafe for all personal stuff and maybe exchange of data with geeky friends.
1 Like
Gradually, as the SAFE networks expands with cool apps, more people will realize the benefits of not having to share their private data with 3rd parties.
But I agree with you, at least in medium-term time frames, SAFE will run cote-a-cote with the more established providers of cloud space.
1 Like
So does that mean if I break out my old stegonagraghy program for encoding files into pictures I can backup my whole media library ~6TB? This can be abused by those with a little knowledge.
On a more serious note, Amazon has huge brand recognition and this will be a huge competitor for maidsafe. My wife, mom, and most coworkers much bigger concern is “how much does it cost” than “is it secure”, much to my chagrin and attempts to explain why it matters. Not only to we need to be (IMO, better than) competitively priced, we need to be the easiest to use as well.
2 Likes
Yup, and having them keep backups of your data in case you forget credentials or accidentally delete the files doesn’t really help SAFE in the eyes of general public.
I hope the general public realize that this IS the cost of security. Cant manage credentials? You will lose your data. I’m sure in a promo video this could be framed in a far more positive manner. Example: “only you control your data!” There is a sense of power and yet a sense of responsibility in that and to me feels less enslaving, I don’t have to go to work to prevent my data being deleted I just had to provide computer space.
2 Likes
Yeah but how much can you upload in a year?
Challenge accepted. I bet after a few hundred terabyte of randomly generated and automatically uploaded photos they start changing their unlimited stance.
The only way they can honour this is if they cap the upload speed to something like 1mbps.
Too serious competition between people can get nasty and detrimental. Fierce competition between products and services on the other hand is excellent. It will increase quality and decrease the price for all users.
They offer unlimited storage for all kinds of files as well, see the link to Amazon. However I don’t see any way to mount it as drive on Linux. The Windows client doesn’t offer anything the web interface doesn’t, meaning manual uploading and downloading only. Quite limited functionality even for backups.
Unlimited ads model…you buy some books on buddhism and the middle of all yor pages has an as talking about your next christian book purchase. Amazon and their centralized model would be a bigger threat if they we’re also more and more about sponsored bullshit. They got their power from end user empowerment, but they are getting very confused about who they actually work for and serve. They are getting conflicted and weak, even as their tech improves.
I think that’s because from your past behavior they can tell you’re a very open minded person, Warren!
1 Like
What if the NSA is why they can provide near infinite cloud capacity?