As the ability to access the internet grows ever wider, so does the desire to be able to access our own content from just about anywhere. That's where "the cloud" comes in, and it's getting more popular.
Whether it's to tap into your files and photos from anywhere, create a backup for that content, or simply to free up space on your mobile device, cloud storage is growing.
"The nice thing about a lot of the cloud storage services is, for most people, they're free. They usually give you, whether it's DropBox or Google or Amazon, they'll give you about 5 gigs of space, and for most people, that's enough," says Dan Ackerman, Senior Editor of CNET.
If it's not, you can pay for more storage, and those dollars are where the battle lies among companies vying to be king of the cloud.
Some people avoid the cost by simply opening multiple free cloud accounts with different companies akin to having several email accounts.
"Now, there's a whole sub market of websites and apps that manage all those accounts, put them all together, almost like your iPhone can manage multiple email accounts at once," says Ackerman.
Otixo is among the apps that can juggle multiple cloud accounts and assist with moving files from one account to another.
Ackerman says the appetite for cloud storage will grow as people continue accessing the internet on more type of devices from more places.
"That'll be the tipping point that makes you go, I just want to store everything in a central location online, so I can get to it, whether I'm at home, at work or in the car," says Ackerman.
It's an evolution likely to make "the cloud" a permanent part of the tech forecast.
Even if you're intimidated by the notion of cloud storage, you could well be using "the cloud" without even realizing it. Numerous web based email services use cloud based storage to keep emails and attachments.
(Information courtesy NBC News)
