Comment by NoSalt
10 hours ago
Ever since Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc. started offering "free" online storage for photos, ever since streaming started to be popular, I have ALWAYS extolled the virtues of µSD card slots in phones and owning your own media (i.e., purchasing CDs and DVDs). Many people would give me a hard time about this, calling me a Luddite, but I will never lose access to my photos, music, or movies ... unless it is the end of the world as we know it, which I happily have on R.E.M.'s Eponymous album.
Nothing really wrong with being a Luddite. The Luddites weren't anti-technology or anti-progress. Rather, they opposed deployment of technology in the workplace which they believed would reduce their pay, reduce the quality of their output, and make it easier to exploit vulnerable people such as children. They were, basically, doing the same thing as software engineers who argue that AI mandates are making their lives worse and making the quality of their employers' software worse.
Why would anyone call you a luddite for advocating for MicroSDs? Of course the reason SD were pushed away (at least for Apple) was to offer cloud backup as the only option with no alternatives.
The iPhone has never had a microsd slot, many years before icloud existed.
Of course the reason SD were pushed away (at least for Apple) was to offer cloud backup as the only option with no alternatives.
Except that no part of what you claim is true:
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/back-up-iphone-iph3ec...
Does anyone actually do this? I’m looking to reduce my reliance on iCloud but I’ve kept my backups there so far as it always seemed onerous to have to plug in and trigger the backup manually. And easy to forget, too.
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I just wish it was possible to buy decent ųSD cards. Even really expensive ones sold in reputable stores die all the time. Sure they work just fine if your goal is to write photos into it, never delete anything and get a new one once it fills up, but anything more write heavy typically kills my SD cards within months. SSDs last decades.
An SD card should only ever be treated as a local cache for data you can replace or will soon move to more permanent storage. Even if you had the best card in the world you could still lose or have your phone stolen.
The one in my dash cam has been going for a year or two now. I pull video off it fairly regularly. It's the branded rove 4k one.
I wish library of things had tape writers and readers. Magnetic tape storage is quite cost effective for data backups and archiving.
I have been using the same µSD card since 2016 with no issues.
Watch ... it'll fail on me later today. :-D
Highly recommend setting up your own photo hosting and backup. People love Immich, but ente.io is also great! Much better than trusting your photos to a single microSD card which may die at any moment.