What's the Value of Ownership in the Age of Cloud Computing?

Regular readers of this column may remember that I’m more than a little wary of cloud-based services that aim to free consumers from the hassle of in fact owning and running software, apps, and files from their local hard drives. The concept’s nothing new, however it’s become a point of focus for music fans recently, thanks to the launch of Amazon’s Cloud Drive and, more recently, Google Music.

The Google and Amazon models are pretty similar—neither has a deal with any major record labels, so the main service it offers is the ability to upload your own file collection to large central servers for easy access via web-based apps. Apple, having secured partnerships with the big music-industry players, and Business Insider reports that this will give users the ability to scan their existing collections for legally purchased music, which will at the time be replicated on the servers and save hours of uploading time.