Remember the time when we used floppy disks and CDs to store, transfer and back up information? It may sound like something coming out of a “90s kids’ post” but at some point in the past, those devices were the latest trend in data storage. So uhmm, why don’t we see them today?
It’s simple: we’re a storage-hungry generation! Our phones shoot 4k video and a good quality photo doesn’t come less than 4 MB each. We don’t walk around carrying floppy disks and CDs, because they can’t keep up with the larger number of files we produce on a daily basis. (And let’s face it, we’ll look like hipsters). Now you’ll probably ask the following question:
“So hey, what about USB drives? They are small and portable and we get them for free at every conference!”
We also have USB drives but soon enough, they are going to become a thing of the past, especially after you read the following five reasons.
We all have had to use a USB flash stick one way or another and we all know what this technology is good for:
Temporary storing of data
Easy to plug into your PC
But thumb drives have more flaws than meet the eye:
Flaw 1: They have a limited shelf life!
Most USB sticks have a finite life that is measured in the times you add and delete a file. This means that after a certain period of time, a thumbstick is bound to show malfunctions and corrupt your data.
Flaw 2: You get this amount of storage and that’s it!
Or otherwise said, you get what you pay for. You can’t expand the storage of your USB drive and most often these little portable sticks don’t pack that many GBs into their body.
Flaw 3: Once you delete something, it’s good as gone!
No backup versions and no way for data recovery once you’ve hit Del. This can cause some sticky situations if you aren’t careful enough.
Flaw 4: You can easily lose a USB flash drive!
If we had a dollar every time someone lost their USB stick, we wouldn’t need any funding. Joke aside, one of the advantages of thumb drives –being small – can result in major problems if you lose them, and this is not so uncommon.
Flaw 5: USB flash drives have major security issues.
Nohl, Jakob Lell and Sascha Krissler – researchers from SRlabs, discovered this flaw back in July 2014. BadUSB is a critical security problem that can take over the input of the keyboard of a user, transferring control of the device to the hacker. The malware is available online and what’s more, reformatting your BadUSB-corrupted device will do nothing to get rid of this flaw. The least you will have to do is to replace the device software with the original firmware.
pCloud takes care of all the disadvantages thumb drives bring. pCloud offers apps for all your devices, it gives you a chance to fill in as much storage as you want and it’s backed up by a top-grade security system in the face of pCloud Crypto. Currently, more than 14 million users trust the service to store, share, and backup any file they want or need.
You can try pCloud for desktop, mobile, and web and see the difference yourself!