Will Offline Storage Become Obsolete Soon?

No, no, no, and no!

Even if the transition to cloud storage becomes more widespread, I would still champion the concept of privacy and freedom. It's not the network security challenges that concern me here, but rather the financial implications.

Financial Burden of Cloud Storage

Cloud platforms, like Microsoft, are more akin to PaaS (Platform as a Service) offerings. Each client has to bear significant expenses for storage. For instance, Microsoft once provided 15 GB of free storage with Office and Camera Roll, but recently announced a reduction to just 5 GB. This move, along with the additional costs for Office 365 users, highlights the financial burden this shift imposes.

Projections for Future Connectivity

Even if everything moves to the cloud eventually, it's unlikely that fast, free, and reliable internet will be universally available for 20 years from now. Until then, having high-quality offline storage will remain essential. Having 10 GB or more of local storage is critical for ensuring functionality in the interim.

Instability in Online Storage

Though the intention behind online storage is commendable, the current implementations are often unstable. Dependability and reliability are crucial, especially for essential data and files. Until these issues are resolved, offline storage remains a reliable fallback.

Cloud-Based Computing and the Future

Imagine an environment where your entire operating system and all your files are stored and accessed via the cloud. This is the vision of Chrome OS, but full implementation faces several challenges. Internet bandwidth limitations and connectivity issues make an entirely cloud-based system difficult to achieve.

Conclusion

Offline storage isn't going away anytime soon. While the transition to cloud storage is inevitable, the current limitations in both financial and technological factors mean that local storage will continue to be essential for the foreseeable future.