Assuming you’ve been streamlining your digital memories into a user-friendly online cloud storage like Google Photos, it’s important to have a local backup for peace of mind. I compiled some thoughts to share with you and hope this will help you make the best decision for you! IF you haven’t done that yet, I highly recommend going to my 4/6/2020 post and videos.
About having local backup… there are so many options but honestly they’re not all created equally, so I’d like to make sure you considered what your best choices are. NO, I do not condone 10 locations… then you have not just digital clutter but CONFUSION! Let’s work smarter, not harder friends. Here are some pros & cons for some of the most common options. I’d love to hear your preferences but please read and reflect so your decision is as informed as possible. What we’ve “always done” isn’t necessarily the best option.
- Your home computer: Well, you may need to access some photos to do creative activities and in this case, it’s nice to download the images and videos you need for the task at hand. HOWEVER as time passes we have more and more images (and videos) which will continue to require more storage space… when you’re like many of my clients who have tens of thousands of images (some with 100’s of thousands) that’s definitely going to slow down the speed of your computer… then you’re suddenly having “flashbacks” to the days of dial-up internet… patience abounds for this to satisfy.
- Facebook storage: Did you know that Facebook is the perfect in the moment sharing HOWEVER, Facebook does NOT keep the full file size of your images? If you are using Facebook to store and archive, please know they’ve been compressed significantly so they look GREAT on a smartphone but if you wanted to download and print anything you’ve uploaded, it suddenly looks like a photo copy of a newspaper photo… Pixel-ated. Grainy. Small. Yuck!
- DVDs: Well, if you haven’t yet heard my talk about DVDs, you still probably know that this format will age out before too much longer. If this is the first you’re hearing of that, I’m sorry to pop that bubble. You deserve to know that this is not going to serve you long term… and you’ll need to extract them all to another format if you keep burning new ones. Please don’t… it’s creating a future of more clutter and lost memories (or more tasks on your long list of “important but not urgent” topics.)
- External hard drives: well this is my #1 choice for local backup. Once you have compiled, this is the perfect place to save a copy and if you’re one of those EXTRA NERVOUS types, you can make a second (I don’t) and tuck it inside a fire safe. I like an external hard drive because I can keep copying new items to it and switch from computer to computer… it goes wherever it’s plugged in. It’s home when not in use: My fire safe. Yep- if you don’t have one, why not??? Insurance companies can never replace lost memories, so let’s avoid a “Should have, could have” abusive inner dialog. This small investment is not the time to cut costs… and it will empower you to PURGE all of the extra tech clutter that you NO LONGER NEED.
HERE’S A VIDEO FOR YOU and you’ll find some help links in the video description.
AS ALWAYS, if yours feels like too big a job to handle yourself, please contact me. I’m here for you! I’d also love to hear what you want to learn more about… so thanks in advance for using the contact form on my website krisledonne.com.
Happy reminiscing, Kris
