The code gets open sourced, and you allow "syncing" to a local database, where everything is accessible. I went through all of these business decisions for Hub

The code gets open sourced, and you allow "syncing" to a local database, where everything is accessible. I went through all of these business decisions for HubSync in late 2009, and came to the conclusion that you had to do the following to make "owning your own data" a reality: 1. Cannot charge developers or earn money on the actual data itself in any way. (Google will not be competing in this space.) 2. MUST, MUST, MUST allow removing any data from the cloud AND reloading it later, without losing any features/abilities. 3. USERS need to pay for cloud sync storage/service, NOT app developers. 4. Code must be open source, visible, and peer reviewed, just like a crypto algorithm. If Simperium will do all of these, IMO they can raise money, and achieve a Dropbox-style exit. There's no doubt the potential is there. 2 is the most important. If you cannot remove your data from Simperium's backend and then reload it again later, either to their own backend, or a competitor, you have vendor lock in of the data, and you don't own your data. 3 means you have to have to do something like Dropbox, where you give away a certain amount of storage/sync for free. Ultimately, this is why I didn't pursue HubSync further, even though the products are nearly identical (even down to syncing CoreData on iOS with a web app running in the browser). (In a nutshell, I didn't want to get funding and devote years of my life to data sync, when I'm in the middle of working on building a live action Pixar. But it's a great idea, and I really hope Simperium or someone else makes it happen.)