I was reading this article (http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=767954867&ids=0Rd3kTejsUdzsIdPkRcPkMe3oTb38TdzkPdPsSdOMNcz8NcjkUdzsIdPoUd3kVdPoT&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-4&ut=2XTzpsSK6NG4U1) now.
Almost unlimited storage on the cloud for almost no money. Only thing is one has to send and receive the files to and from the cloud which can kill you in bandwidth costs or time for up/downloading.
But assume there comes a time in 2014 when network is reliable and dirt cheap like this company is making hard disk space out to be, then what? Portable hard disks will become extinct or limited to usage inside planes or deep in the jungles of Amazon.
Further along I was thinking of the mobile phone. It comes with a SIM that carries your number and a very little amount of storage space. If you want to move stuff in and out from your phone, you need to have a separate removable storage card.
Then what is the SIM for? Perhaps as an ID card for the phone. To tell the phone and hence the network provider where the ID (mobile number owner) is currently. Why can't this be software controlled. All it needs is to enter the ID (phone number) on booting the phone, with some password/control mechanism. One can do away with the useless thing called the SIM card.
And if this company's idea (store on the cloud) works and if the network becomes reliable and cheap, one can get rid of the storage disk also on phones. Unless of course one is a no network coverage area and one wants to use non-phone related data such as ebooks, music etc.
Let's wait for 2014. (How am I guessing the year 2014? Just a crystal ball.)