Technology Scares Me. Like, "I Might Need A Diaper" Scared...

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE technology. I am no longer resistant to about 80% of it. Ten years ago, I had dialup internet, a PrimeCo cell phone, and I signed up for this cool new thing called Ebay. Which I promptly went crazy on.

Cut to today. I blog, I Twitter (however I don't FACEBOOK and I don't think I ever will) I have a Mac, iPad, iPhone, and a Blueray player. I even stream the internet (LOVE Netflix) through my living room TV. I mean, I LOVE technology. It's so...convenient.

But sometimes they go too far. Case in point, now they are claiming that soon computer hard drives will be obsolete because everyone will be storing their personal files and info in online servers, rather than hard drives on their computers. In fact, it's already begun. I'm sure you've seen commercials for "GoToMyPc" or "The Cloud," programs that let you access your personal computer and all files online. Apple and IBM are working tirelessly on new computers that someday won't have hard drives, because those few minutes of "whirring and starting up" are SO DANGED INCONVENIENT in this world of "Convenience" Technology" and the "Me Me Me Now Now Now It's Not Fast Enough" consumer.

TERRIFYING. I mean, really? Maybe it's because I'm a writer, and I like to protect my ideas, but why do I think this is a TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO-GOOD, VERY BAD idea??

Think about it. Here's the following hypothetical situation: Say you sign up for one of those programs and it doesn't matter where you go because you can access all of your personal files/photos/whathaveyou online because they're all stored in the Fort Knox of Online Storage Services. It's convenient. It's comfortable. It's great to have instant access to everything you need no matter what device you are using. You've been "Cloud-ified." Life is Good.

Then time passes, and you awake one morning to headlines screaming about how hackers have finally figured out how to HACK the online servers storing all your personal information. Your personal photos (even the ones you don't want people to see) are now out on the internet. You find that embarrassing video of you drunk at your sister's wedding on You Tube. Your files have been sold to the highest bidder--including the password-protected (and easily cracked) Word document that has ALL the passwords to all your online accounts recorded in it, so you won't forget them. Your virtual "hard drive" is now Public Knowledge, for all to see. Oh, and just to be "funny," the hackers have sold then ERASED all your files. And if you are a writer, like me, all your stories are lost. Years and years of work. Because why the heck would you make hard copies? You have everything stored in the Fort Knox of Online Servers! Well, NOW you don't...

I guess "Oh, Crap" wouldn't quite cover it.

Are you afraid, yet? Because it will happen, folks. I mean, it's not like I'm about to put on a sandwich board that reads "AVOID THE CLOUD" and walk around uptown Charlotte or anything, but I feel pretty strongly about this. Technology is a good thing, but sometimes convenience is dangerous. I think the CLOUD is dangerous. I will never, ever, ever sign up for it. Twenty years from now I'll be one of those luddite-types who buys old computers online that aren't manufactured any more because they have a hard drive that can store information privately. Hackers can do anything, people. They are getting smarter and smarter. In our rush to have super fast, super-convenient, super NOW, we are forgetting how vulnerable we are making ourselves.

Am I totally crazy? I probably sound like one of those "paranoid people," but actually, think I might have a point.

Think about it.