The Cloud Is Killing The Planet

renegadefm

Just heard the devistating affect our need to use the Cloud and store data online such as files, photos, music, etc online is impacting on our environment, because massive computer systems requiring massive amounts of energy run by fossil fuels is powering our power hungry lives. And now the new threat is apparently 5G for phones. 
I'm thinking OMG what are we doing to our world? Our children's world?
What is wrong with going back to printing photos like we used to,  storing files on cds like we should do. And utilising better use of our own pc hard drives?
Our modern way of life seems obsessed with destroying the planet? 

Johno100

Not sure what scaremongering story you've been reading? Try this for a bit of balance:-

https://www.agileit.com/news/environmental-benefits-cloud-computing/

p00hsticks

Johno100 said:

Not sure what scaremongering story you've been reading?

I suspect they've been watching this

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p083tb16/dirty-streaming-the-internets-big-secret

eddddy

renegadefm said:

What is wrong with going back to printing photos like we used to,  storing files on cds like we should do. And utilising better use of our own pc hard drives?

I think you've probably got that the wrong way round.

I suspect that manufacturing and transporting plastic CDs and plastic ink cartridges that will eventually end up in landfill is much worse for the environment, as well as using up trees to make the paper for printed photos.

Plus I suspect that CD burners and printers would use up more energy than simply saving files in cloud storage.

And if you compare: 

1. 1000 people having low spec pcs and sharing a cloud server for data storage and data processing
2. 1000 people having high spec pcs for local data storage and data processing, which need more resources to manufacture and run (with no cloud server)

Option 1 - with the cloud server - is probably more environmentally friendly

Johnmcl7

renegadefm said:

Just heard the devistating affect our need to use the Cloud and store data online such as files, photos, music, etc online is impacting on our environment, because massive computer systems requiring massive amounts of energy run by fossil fuels is powering our power hungry lives. And now the new threat is apparently 5G for phones. 
I'm thinking OMG what are we doing to our world? Our children's world?
What is wrong with going back to printing photos like we used to,  storing files on cds like we should do. And utilising better use of our own pc hard drives?
Our modern way of life seems obsessed with destroying the planet? 

I genuinely can't tell if you're being serious or not because what you're suggesting is so ludicrously inefficient and damaging to the environment I really hope you're not serious.  A standard hard drive offers up to 14TB capacity which can hold just under a million high quality 25MP photos, over three and a half million high quality mobile phone photos or over 22,000 CD's and that's just a [i]single[/i] hard drive.  To print even a fraction of the photos or burn that data to CD is clearly going to use far more power in the manufacturing of the raw product and the hardware to print/burn the data then when that data is no longer required such as when the person passes away you have vast amounts of waste that you don't have with a digital product

buglawton

The best recent perspective (and debunking of some of the scaremongering) was in this radio podcast 'Netflix vs The Environment':
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads
Don't worry it's audio so won't consume nearly as much energy as video!

Yes using the internet for media does consume a lot of energy overall. But it's an area replete with technological advances that are going to slash the carbon cost over time.
If Bitcoin mining and usage were banned like a class A drug, the power consumption of Ireland would be instantly saved.

roddydogs

So is the BBC going to cut down on its internet based content? Whaddauthink?

buglawton

No it's going to switch off most of its highly wasteful network of TV and radio transmitters.

poppellerant

This only makes me glad that I didn't use "cloud" services, mostly because I don't like that companies look at the data.  Not that I have anything to hide, but these days people seem to waive their privacy far too easily.

It just seems as though that cloud because another trend which the sheep followed.  Much like sheep to the slaughter.

RumRat

poppellerant said:

This only makes me glad that I didn't use "cloud" services, mostly because I don't like that companies look at the data.  Not that I have anything to hide, but these days people seem to waive their privacy far too easily.

It just seems as though that cloud because another trend which the sheep followed.  Much like sheep to the slaughter.

Someone has a superiority complex......Baaaa!

onomatopoeia99

renegadefm said:

Just heard the devistating affect our need to use the Cloud and store data online such as files, photos, music, etc online is impacting on our environment, because massive computer systems requiring massive amounts of energy run by fossil fuels is powering our power hungry lives. And now the new threat is apparently 5G for phones. 
I'm thinking OMG what are we doing to our world? Our children's world?
What is wrong with going back to printing photos like we used to,  storing files on cds like we should do. And utilising better use of our own pc hard drives?
Our modern way of life seems obsessed with destroying the planet? 

I'm thinking OMG what other more energy efficient method of storing photos do you propose? 

Here's a hint, the manufacturing of paper, ink, ink cartridges, printers (etc) uses much more energy and resources per photo than storing them on a cloud server.