Square Peg - Round Hole

Do you remember when you could set up a large website on Geocities?  The only cost being a small static ad in the corner of the page.

Or when you could buy Microsoft Word, it was yours and you could use it on all of your computers. You could choose whether the take the update or keep the previous version.

Sites hosted by the free online disc space, (Modern speke ‘In the cloud’), that were Geocities and the other free providers had the rug pulled from under them as the space was sold off.

Word was incorporated into Office so you had to buy the lot whether you used it or not; Then came compulsory activation so you had to buy a copy for every computer you used and now we have annual subscriptions so you have to buy every pointless update they care to introduce and so the money making machine grinds on!

I've been using computers since 1979 and got my first PC, an Amstrad A.T.  in 1988,  (probably before the parents of the current software controllers were in nappies).There was no Windows, only MS DOS. The 5.25 floppies were always breaking down and everything was really slow. I never want to  go back to that! There have been vast improvements since then: Windows OS; WYSWYG editing; Not to mention the matter of speed! It took minutes to send an email by Compuserve through the old phone system.

 

Many of the innovations have been brilliant and I'm not against change, I also recognise that essential software development has to be financed but I am thoroughly fed up with Nanny Microsoft and Nanny Apple telling me what I can and what I can not do with my own computers, each of which cost me over £1,000. Driving a computer is like driving a car; You don't have to understand the internal combustion engine to drive but if you do you can lift the bonnet and tweak the engine.

 

Why do you think that OneDrive, Dropbox, Adobe, etc. keep urging you  to back-up your files to the cloud? Eventuality the free space runs out and then begins the hard-sell to make you buy more and more and more cloud storage.

 

These measures have all been put in place in the name of Looking After Your Security'; Well Buster,  I've been doing that for the past thirty something years by using my 'gumption' with the only one serious worm attack that Norton firewall allowed through. Online storage is constantly under attack from hackers and we're constantly getting apologies from providers because our data has been compromised.

 Well I have a different strategy.

• I have found apps online that give me back the tweaks that Microsoft and Apple have taken away. If you are savvy enough to apply these tweaks you will be able to find the apps through your browser.
• Keep a free Dropbox just for sharing non critical files with individuals.
• Dump Microsoft 365,Adobe Acrobat, etc. Libre Office and Open Office offer all the same features except for the cloud storage and they are free. There are plenty of low 'one off' priced pdf editors available.
• Never login to a website that holds your details from a link in an email.
• Do not open pictures, videos, etc. from mass mailings in Messages, Messenger, WhatsApp or email. Delete them.
• Hard drives are relatively cheap now. Back up your system disc and all of your data regularly and only leave the backup disc plugged in while the backup is actually being done, the rest of the time keep it safely out of the reach of hackers by isolating it. I use EaseUs for my backups but there is plenty of good backup software out there.