Bournemouth — Apr 15th 2014
Lionel surveyed the different ways of doing backups, confident in the knowledge that we all do regular backups one way or another, said he with a knowing smile! A common method is to use Time Machine, or 3rd party software such as SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner to back up to an external hard disk. While reliable in use, there were hazards such as burglary, fire and flood as well as accidental deletion of a vital file or failure of the disk itself. One precautionary strategy is to keep the disk remotely from the computer, and Lionel told of one acquaintance who kept his in a fireproof safe in a locked shed at the bottom of the garden. Another would be to agree an exchange with a friend, and he posited the possibility that WAGs members might arrange exchanges with fellow members on a regular monthly basis.
Lionel then discussed the alternatives. Using webspace provided by your ISP is a possibility but this might be seen bt the public world wide. Backing up in the ‘cloud’ is a viable method but has pros and cons. iCloud is the Apple offering but there are several others (eg. Microsoft One Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox and others - search for cloud computing in your browser). He then listed the advantages of cloud back up: your data is stored safely away from your home, it is accessible from anywhere in the world (given access to the net), and you can share stuff with friends and relatives.
However, there are disadvantages. All cloud services offer some free storage space but charge if you want more. A major disadvantage of cloud back up in significant amounts is that most of us suffer from slow upload speeds which means that backing up your whole system to the cloud is unrealistic (unless you are lucky enough to have a cable service) so selective backup of important files only is the way to go. And, although secure, your data is actually stored on drives which are dotted here and there all over the world. This is significant because they are subject to the laws of the country they are in, and these might include freezing a whole cloud service so that you can’t access your data (this has happened in the USA).
Lionel ended by proposing a strategy: upload particularly important files to the cloud, use Dropbox for files and photos you want to share, back up everything to a second removable hard drive and entrust this to someone else to look after. There followed lively discussion which had to be curtailed for the tea/coffee break and leave enough time for Tony Still’s presentation as follows.
2014 is the 30th anniversary of the original Mac computer and Apple has produced a website history of its development since then (view here). Characteristically of Apple, it is rather pleased with what the company has achieved, and the site summarises this year by year, so well worth a viewing.
Tony set the scene of Apple’s situation just before the launch of the Mac when the Apple III had flopped and IBM was stealing its market with the IBM PC. He told us how Apple had in its way largely led the way in which personal computing has developed. The Mac with its desktop “Laserwriter” printer made it possible to put letters or drawings on the screen which could then be printed to look exactly the same on paper. Ease of use was facilitated by the development of the mouse. Networking and email were other advances that we now take for granted. The later production of a Mac which did away with the floppy disc caused consternation at the time. All the while, computing power was being increased, the design of the machines was making it look more and more attractive, and everything was done to miniaturise as far as possible.
It was fascinating to be taken back and be reminded how the machines we now use have developed so much in 30 years from what were relatively primitive pieces of equipment with a capacity so limited we wouldn’t give tuppence for them now.
And a bit of knowledge which is new to some of us: the ‘i’ in iMac etc stands for internet. Apple is the name of the company, and Macintosh is derived from the name of one variety of apple (spelled McIntosh according to Wiki). This is just a small part of the science we can call Macology!
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