The "Cloud" is a bank of machines

There is much discussion lately of the advantages of "cloud" computing, meaning that your files are saved where your phone, tablet, computer, etc. can access the latest versions automatically, even if, for example, the file was last changed by your computer but accessed by your phone.  In conversations, I find that people have difficulty in conceiving where the files are physically located, or that they have a physical form. Logically they have to be on stored on discs of a computer being used as a server. This morning, the Washington Post published a photo of Steve Jobs in front of a blowup of the actual storage units for the iCloud. I offer this picture as a reminder that whatever one of us puts in a "cloud" is located on a machine owned, in this case, by Jobs' company, Apple. This raises some questions: Who can access these files? What kind of backup is available in case of mechanical failure or natural disaster? What if Apple changes its mind or is acquired by some other entity in the future. Is this a good idea?

Modern antiques

This week I went to an exhibit called Vienna 1900 at the Neue Galerie in New York city. It was the era of Freud and the exhibit included a reproduction of his patients' couch. This was an ordinary chaise lounge with an Oriental carpet draped over it. What struck me most were the streamlined pieces of furniture that could easily be displayed as contemporary in a furniture store over 100 years later. In particular, an armoire by an architect named Otto Wagner looks exactly like those found in very modern hotels. It has no decoration, simply flat, functional surfaces. Another piece that would be classified as contemporary in 2011 was a grandfather clock all of whose sides were glass.

Some questions arise: why have these designs lasted for so long in some quarters, but why are they also avoided in favor of copies of early American, Victorian, Louis XIV, etc. in other quarters?