When we look back on the year 2013 in decades to come I honestly believe it will be seen as a landmark year in the history of technology and the internet. I’ve outlined what I feel are perhaps three of the biggest stories last year.
PRISM: the aftermath and implications for our data and privacy
When Edward Snowden’s revelations were first reported, it confirmed what many of us felt was already happening – that governments and the big tech players had the ability to monitor our data. However, as more information was revealed, even the most cynical were shocked to the extent personal and confidential data had been compromised.
PRISM and the Snowden revelations could prove to be a defining moment in our relationship with data and how it is controlled. Until now, most have been happy to trust the likes of Google and Apple with our data, even if we were aware that content was scanned to sell ads. But a major seed of distrust has now been planted and we’ve already seen reaction to try and fight this in the form of the new Reform Government Surveillance group. Will this be enough to rebuild the damaged relationship? We’ll wait and see, but it can only be real actions taken that will repair the damage already done.
Cloud failure and trust issues
While the Snowden revelations showed us that we can’t always trust the cloud to be responsible, Nirvanix taught us that maybe we can’t trust the cloud to hold onto our data at all. The one month Nirvanix users were given to move their data is hardly enough time to make an informed decision as to ‘where next’ but who is to say that we won’t see another provider disappearing overnight, with user data disappearing forever.
The lesson to be learned here is that choosing providers on the basis that they are simply ‘too big to fail’ never leads to a dynamic market place. In order to have a free and open cloud ecosystem that you can trust, businesses need to ensure that the same service available from several providers, there are tools available to move from one provider to another, and that the service is available as software – preferably open source – so that if you require it to be run on premise, you can. Only with this level of control can you truly be in a position to trust.
Adobe Creative Cloud and the future of paying for software
Adobe took a very bold step this year. In announcing that there would be no further updates of the Creative Suite. It killed its cash cow in a way that Microsoft would never dare. And perhaps the most surprising thing is that, despite some initial fears, the Creative Cloud has been well received with strong subscription rates and software updates already arriving.
The traditional software licencing model has been living on borrowed time for quite a few years now, and while I don’t think Adobe has solved this problem, it has demonstrated that people are open to alternatives.