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Seemingly every company wants to use their particular cloud to either back up your data or access it from multiple devices — but is that really worth the cost?
It depends on how much you value convenience, Upthere CEO Chris Bourdon says. Speaking on the latest episode of Too Embarrassed to Ask, Bourdon said the different cloud storage services all have different strengths.
“If you’re looking for a place to keep your photos — other than Upthere — I think Google Photos does a great job,” Bourdon said. “I think the problem is, each of these services focuses on a particular thing, and they try to do that one thing really well. Inevitably, if you want to get the best experience, you’re going to be using multiple clouds.”
“Google does a great job with photos,” he added. But “if you have an iPhone and you want to make sure that your phone is backed up, then iCloud is the only solution that you can get.”
Upthere’s pitch to consumers is that they should pay as they go for additional storage, at the rate of $2 per 100 GB of data per month. But Bourdon acknowledged that for an Apple-only household, the pull of Apple’s iCloud Photos may be too strong.
“If you’re committed to Apple, there’s nothing that’s going to be easier,” he said. “They have access to the devices that other developers don’t have. I don’t think that necessarily makes it easier.”
And what if you, the hypothetical iPhone owner, decide to skip Apple’s next phone and buy a Google Pixel instead? Bourdon says that’s another good reason to choose your photos’ home carefully.
“I think having that kind of independence of that data from our devices is pretty important,” he said. “When you start putting your eggs in one basket, so to speak, you’re really exposing yourself — not only to the fickleness of the company and how they decide they’re going to pursue their business in the future, but also just the security of that company and the longevity of that company.”
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
