But just think of it - because of this, a web page is NEVER deleted; it just stays forever as a backup copy on Google's backup server. This leads to a couple of interesting concepts from a business perspective: How has this changed the landscape for data storage, and how confidential is information, really?
We'll start with the first question: Data Storage, which once used to be a rather expensive sort of thing to do, is getting easier, and soon will become almost entirely free for anybody, with the advances in Cloud Computing. Many students already use GMail and Hotmail to store / send documents to themselves (and there are many other resources) - like that, but on an even bigger, business-wide scale.
Instead of saving everything in rows and rows of supercomputers buried deep underground, it only makes sense for companies to start simply saving everything online in the vast reaches of the internet - for a price, of course. Third party companies have stored data in the past, so why can't somebody like Microsoft or Google handle it with their massive computer system? They already save everything anyways, and as long as there's no scaling issue, there's nothing really stopping them. We're already pretty much heading towards total integration anyways - consider Google Docs and Google Groups as steps towards this goal.
So if Google Docs and Groups are already there, and widely available, why don't all companies switch to it? Two answers come to mind - one, security; that's tied into the confidentiality issue, so I'll come back to it. The other is: if the information needs to be removed, HOW?!
That question is especially vital to people who are looking to enter the business world - let's face it, MySpace and Facebook pages are far too simple a way to get yourself blacklisted, due to something stupid you've done. While I keep myself *fairly* anonymous, I've seen more than my fair share of pictures from Keggers with people blasted out of their minds. It's an interesting little dichotomy - the internet makes it easy to do anything, but at the same time, it makes it difficult to do anything; one misstep, and you may have ruined yourself for life. The only way to stay "invisible" online is to watch EVERY step you take. This means erasing your identity, and then being remarkably careful afterward. Fake personas online, using public computers (under a pseudonym login if possible), using IP scramblers, etc. - it's enough to make your head explode.
At the same time, this applies to businesses, too - even WITHOUT saving all information online, companies already find ways to shoot themselves in the foot. Information that gets leaked can undercut a companies' brand equity, and make them a laughingstock, so proper disposal is paramount. Many companies simply ignore proper file destruction, which really isn't that difficult - the reason is, they severely underestimate just how easy it is to restore data. It's sometimes as easy as just freezing it. I guess it's good for competition, though - if I was a rival company, I'd just scour eBay and hope to score big.
So, being careful is around 90% of the battle - but if you clicked on those links, you know that one of them was referring to the AOL Leak. Companies that could potentially be hosts for your data, (namely, big online companies) may not have your best interests at heart, and may leak information for anyone to see. However, there is some movement towards rectifying this: the creation of a new internet! It's a novel concept, (definitely outside the box), but would it work? I tend to think not - adding security and then making it a "pay to use" internet seems to fly against the entire concept of the internet - the "free for all" free-for-all that emphasizes equal opportunity and ingenuity. Still, a "new internet" solely for the purpose of business? Endless possibilities on that one - IF you can promise absolute security, anyways.
On a last note, if a new internet DID take over, what would happen to the old one? Would it become obsolete, like an ancient language? A big upside to storing things online is that, presumably, Google or somebody would take charge in keeping things accessible - right now, a lot of data is simply lost because the file format gets abandoned (think .doc, slowly being abandoned in favor of Microsoft Word's new .docx format). People are working towards solving that issue, but a total switch to online could be a possible solution.
Just something to think about.
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