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by jads 3306 days ago
Backblaze and Crashplan aren't really comparable to iCloud, in the same way that they shouldn't be compared to Dropbox. They're both backup services, neither position themselves as online file storage in quite the same way.

iCloud storage includes file storage, iOS backups, mail (if you're using an iCloud email address), and photos. It doesn't have the same features as Dropbox or Box, but I prefer it simply because it works fine for me. I'm on a 200GB plan and plan to upgrade once the family sharing plans are live.

Personally, $120/year for 2TB of online storage for a service I regularly use is actually great. But I'm still disappointed that iCloud only comes with 5GB of free storage and the pricing options of lower tiers hasn't really changed.
2 comments
SyneRyder 3306 days ago
> They're both backup services, neither position themselves as online file storage in quite the same way.

Indeed, CrashPlan has a policy of removing backups if the machine hasn't connected in 6 months [1]. Those services aren't intended for long term document storage with no local copy, just for disaster recovery.

[1] https://support.crashplan.com/Subscriptions/Backup_Retention...

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hendersoon 3306 days ago
I believe that was deliberate. Many people only care about iCloud to backup their iOS devices, and 5GB is really only enough space to backup a single device because the backup sizes inflate over time due to some mechanism I've been unable to pin down even after extensive effort.

The alternate is to setup multiple Apple IDs and link them via family sharing to get the same iTunes purchases, but that's a huge pain in the butt and (IMO) not worth the effort to save $1/month on the 50GB iCloud plan.

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Angostura 3306 days ago
Really? I only care about iCloud for photos and data syncing across devices.
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hendersoon 3306 days ago
You plug-in to a computer to backup your phone? That is pretty rare these days!
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Angostura 3305 days ago
My music is stored in the cloud, by photos are in the cloud, my e-mail is held elsewhere, I can redownload any apps. What am I bcking up for again?
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joecool1029 3306 days ago
>You plug-in to a computer to backup your phone? That is pretty rare these days!

Some of us don't want to have our data available to others.

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eridius 3306 days ago
> because the backup sizes inflate over time due to some mechanism

Was that not fixed in iOS 10? They completely reimplemented how backups work in that release.

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