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Is S3 marketed towards nontechnical folk like this? The other comments in this thread do a good enough job at dispelling any need for sympathy to the affected p

Is S3 marketed towards nontechnical folk like this? The other comments in this thread do a good enough job at dispelling any need for sympathy to the affected party, but my question is how they ended up inside the AWS console in the first place? It looks like the guy had just enough knowledge to shoot himself in the foot.

Sebb767 6y ago
> Is S3 marketed towards nontechnical folk like this? Honestly, even as a quite technical person, understanding AWS is not that easy. I've been in the situation of trying to run a very small app with basically zero budget on AWS a few years ago, and the sheer amount of services I needed to involve and things that needed to look for where quite overwhelming. I can easily imagine a non-technical person getting completely lost in the interface.
miyuru 6y ago
S3 began as a simple service(first S in S3), but now it definitely isn't. Now there are 6 different storage classes and loads of options to manage the objects and buckets. Interestingly the latest storage class(S3 Intelligent-Tiering) was created to minimize the overhead of S3.
mikeyla85 6y ago
I "ended up in the AWS console" because S3 was a cheap way to store data so I decided to use their product. I've been a casual web developer, hacked together complex Javascript webapps, built Chrome extensions know my way around the terminal. Enough knowledge to be dangerous but not a professional. On AWS, I know how to manage IAM roles, set up EC2 instances, etc. etc. The idea that only a dedicated IT professional should be using this product really cuts out a lot of people who can't afford a dedicated IT professional.
- CGamesPlay 6y ago
  I don't mean to undermine your skills, but by analogy: I know that sailboats are expensive, and I've sailed a few times, but I wouldn't buy a build-your-own-sailboat kit because it's cheaper and I know how to sail. I agree with you about this, certainly: > The idea that only a dedicated IT professional should be using this product really cuts out a lot of people who can't afford a dedicated IT professional.
  - mikeyla85 6y ago
    I'm far from the only person who - has needs that can be met by cloud providers at costs I can afford - can't afford to pay a sysadmin - has enough technical skills to hack my way through it But this is also like saying "You should have hired an expert to tell you that when the sailboat builder kit manual says drill into the back it actually means the front." Regardless of whether someone more experienced at this would know better, this UX is awful, its title is inaccurate, and the whole process around changing storage classes far more confusing than the UX makes it seem. There are petabytes and petabytes of data from independent filmmakers that are rotting away on drives, and part of the issue is lack of other affordable options. So I get that "shoulda hired a sysadmin" is an easy response but that's not always an option, especially when there's dozens of hard drives or other complexities that make these tasks last weeks or months.

Sebb767 6y ago

> Is S3 marketed towards nontechnical folk like this? Honestly, even as a quite technical person, understanding AWS is not that easy. I've been in the situation of trying to run a very small app with basically zero budget on AWS a few years ago, and the sheer amount of services I needed to involve and things that needed to look for where quite overwhelming. I can easily imagine a non-technical person getting completely lost in the interface.

miyuru 6y ago

S3 began as a simple service(first S in S3), but now it definitely isn't. Now there are 6 different storage classes and loads of options to manage the objects and buckets. Interestingly the latest storage class(S3 Intelligent-Tiering) was created to minimize the overhead of S3.

mikeyla85 6y ago

I "ended up in the AWS console" because S3 was a cheap way to store data so I decided to use their product. I've been a casual web developer, hacked together complex Javascript webapps, built Chrome extensions know my way around the terminal. Enough knowledge to be dangerous but not a professional. On AWS, I know how to manage IAM roles, set up EC2 instances, etc. etc. The idea that only a dedicated IT professional should be using this product really cuts out a lot of people who can't afford a dedicated IT professional.

CGamesPlay 6y ago
I don't mean to undermine your skills, but by analogy: I know that sailboats are expensive, and I've sailed a few times, but I wouldn't buy a build-your-own-sailboat kit because it's cheaper and I know how to sail. I agree with you about this, certainly: > The idea that only a dedicated IT professional should be using this product really cuts out a lot of people who can't afford a dedicated IT professional.
- mikeyla85 6y ago
  I'm far from the only person who - has needs that can be met by cloud providers at costs I can afford - can't afford to pay a sysadmin - has enough technical skills to hack my way through it But this is also like saying "You should have hired an expert to tell you that when the sailboat builder kit manual says drill into the back it actually means the front." Regardless of whether someone more experienced at this would know better, this UX is awful, its title is inaccurate, and the whole process around changing storage classes far more confusing than the UX makes it seem. There are petabytes and petabytes of data from independent filmmakers that are rotting away on drives, and part of the issue is lack of other affordable options. So I get that "shoulda hired a sysadmin" is an easy response but that's not always an option, especially when there's dozens of hard drives or other complexities that make these tasks last weeks or months.