My Life In The Cloud
30th January, 2022 - Blog
What’s up, everyone? It’s Sunday, and I’m excited to be back at work tomorrow. That’s weird to say, right? Anyway, this week’s blog is about… The Cloud.
Cloud storage solutions are all over the place at the moment, with almost every tech giant offering one. My PlayStation saves are stored in the cloud, my Spotify library is stored in the cloud, and all of my emails are on Gmail servers.
There are dozens of options, but I use two – iCloud and Google. Why two services? Why those two specifically? And what kind of storage plans do I have for each?
Why iCloud?
Back when I had an iMac at home and a MacBook Pro for working portably, I started to use iCloud to keep files consistent between the two PCs. I’ve since since moved to one laptop, but I’ve become so used to iCloud I’m not sure I could be without it now.
I don’t do anything particularly technical. I tend to write articles in either Drafts or Pages, meaning I can start working on my laptop, iPad or phone and pick up where I leave off on other devices. The iCloud web portal, while a little clunky, also means I can access articles on any computer. It’s not like I’m going to need to commandeer a PC to finish up an urgent draft, but it’s good to have a backup option even if I never use it.
When I say all of my documents are on iCloud, I mean it. ALL of my documents are stored in the Cloud – not just articles, but my invoices and my “bible”, the Content Planner as well. This means whether I’m on my PC, Mac, iPad, or even my phone, I can fire off an invoice or add my next project.
It’s not just work, either. I keep valuable ID documents there so I can easily grab them when needed. So if I’m so happy with iCloud…
Why Google?
Two things I’ve learned from working with a variety of clients are; the world runs on Google Drive, and it’s always best to submit work in the way that the client prefers.
As a result, while early articles I submitted were email attachments, everything now runs through Google Drive. I submit a folder link to my editor or client, with my article as a Google Doc (which they can edit or add comments to) and a folder containing images for the piece.
It’s simple to use, but most importantly, it removes any friction from the process. I can copy all of the text from a Pages file, or a Draft, and paste it into a Google Doc ready to share.
How much does this cost?
I have the 200GB iCloud storage plan, which is shared with Frankie. It costs me £2.49 per month, but I know my entire livelihood is backed up. Aside from the convenience, that’s a huge relief. It also holds my photos, of which there are thousands.
As for Google, I have a 100GB plan for £1.49 per month. That incorporates Gmail, Drive, and a few other elements, but again it’s worth that small monthly fee to help ensure my work is submitted seamlessly.
What if iCloud/Google go down?
That’s a fair point. I keep a regular backup of my existing projects I’m working on, actually on my device. So my MacBook Pro, at the very least, has everything I’m working on right now.
As for Google, I tend to use it more as a transfer method anyway, so if it goes down (assuming I don’t lose any data) it’s not a huge issue.
What cloud services do you use and why? Let me know on Twitter!
