Issues with Cloud Computing

"The Cloud. Originally, it was just a metaphor for the Internet, the area outside of your own network". However, over the past few years this new phenomenon known as cloud computing has grown to great heights. No longer are people wasting their time fishing out large amounts of money and space to personally shelter their data and personal information in devices such as hard drives or high functioning computers. Instead, people are now choosing to rely on the convenience cloud computing system's interface software has to offer to run applications and store data.

Although there are many advantages to the cloud model, there are also a wide array of disadvantages that need to be considered. In the article, "The Not So Obvious Problems With Cloud Computing" published on articlesbase.com, many issues with cloud computing are mentioned in an attempt to open people's minds to the problems that may arise from this new phenomenon. As the article states, one of the biggest problems with cloud computing today is privacy, as "you are no longer managing the security of your organization". Questions of who might be accessing your information, and what lengths are the software companies going to in order to ensure complete security to their client are ones that people need to be thinking about when deciding whether to subscribe to these online software companies. Other issues brought up within the article include the reliability of the company, and whether or not it is truly more efficient to be storing information online, where the probability of the company's network giving out is much higher than the probability of your own personal hard drives crashing.

While these concerns are understandable, it is up to consumers to weigh out the benefits and disadvantages of cloud computing. For large businesses, the concerns may be greatly overshadowed by the advantages it has to bring, while for small business owners, investing in cloud computing may not be worth the risks it brings. 

Is Social Media Becoming an Addiction?

After reading the article, "Students Denied Social Media Go Through Withdrawals" by Jill Laster, I found myself questioning whether or not social media is becoming an actual addiction or if it is just the way most people choose to communicate in our society today. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, addiction is defined as "a persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful". Although people may experience emotional side effects when disconnected from social medias such as anxiety and misery, these effects are minimal in comparison to withdrawals felt by other people facing addiction problems and do not pose an immediate threat to a person's overall health. I have never met anyone who has ever experienced physical withdrawals symptoms such as sweating or difficulty breathing because of their inability to access media. 

Although I do frequently use various forms of social medias throughout the day, I do not think that I should be classified as having an addiction. If anything, my addiction would be my need to constantly stay connected with friends and family and my cell phone and the Internet are the outlets I use to fulfill this need. Just as Susan D. Moeller explains within the article, “going without media meant, in their world, going without their friends and family". For those who have grown up with the luxury of technology, it is hard to think of alternative ways to communicate with their peers other than through the use of media devices such as cell phones and social networks. Personally, I feel that this sense of disconnect from others is the reason for the anxiety many people report feeling in the article after being cut off from media sources, therefore making it invalid to automatically label those experiencing these symptoms as being addicted to social media.