3 ms·

I don't know that this is an ideal solution. For one, not all devices are switched on or in use at the same time. Another the security concerns you raise. I th

I don't know that this is an ideal solution. For one, not all devices are switched on or in use at the same time. Another the security concerns you raise. I think the solution is a server-based one, where the server is a zero-knowledge service that simply holds client-side encrypted data until a device connects to sync up. All clients (phone, tablet, laptop, PC and whatever we haven't invented yet) connects to that server only to pull down changes made on another device, and encrypts and then pushes it's own changes to the server as they happen. I should be able to run and/or host my own server anywhere, be that AWS, Heroku, Azure... It's not rocket science. I built a database that does this, but obviously falls short of platform-level access, which is what's really needed to sync up everything from alarms, brightness settings and email/calendars to where I got to in the movie I'm busy watching.

npsimons 12y ago
It's not rocket science. I built a database that does this, but obviously falls short of platform-level access, which is what's really needed to sync up everything from alarms, brightness settings and email/calendars to where I got to in the movie I'm busy watching. I used to have this; it was called NFS. I've still got my .bash_profile from well over a decade ago that sets timeouts for display dimming. Sadly, far too many software authors think that all configuration data needs to be kept in fs-locked binary formats, instead of, you know simple text files ("keep everything in plain text"), where it can be easily versioned or shared via a plethora of methods. Granted, the central server and connecting to it takes more setup (I'm firmly of the opinion that the only real reason Google and Apple sync services are preferred is that they're the default; you don't have to answer any pesky questions about IP addresses, etc), but I think there could easily be a market for a pre-packaged "personal cloud" box that you plug in at home, install an app, and it finds the "cloud box" on wifi, then hooks everything to sync everything.
- Spearchucker 12y ago
  That cloud box at home is good, I think, as long as Joe Consumer knows to leave it switched on and plugged into the intertubes. So with you on config data.

npsimons 12y ago

It's not rocket science. I built a database that does this, but obviously falls short of platform-level access, which is what's really needed to sync up everything from alarms, brightness settings and email/calendars to where I got to in the movie I'm busy watching. I used to have this; it was called NFS. I've still got my .bash_profile from well over a decade ago that sets timeouts for display dimming. Sadly, far too many software authors think that all configuration data needs to be kept in fs-locked binary formats, instead of, you know simple text files ("keep everything in plain text"), where it can be easily versioned or shared via a plethora of methods. Granted, the central server and connecting to it takes more setup (I'm firmly of the opinion that the only real reason Google and Apple sync services are preferred is that they're the default; you don't have to answer any pesky questions about IP addresses, etc), but I think there could easily be a market for a pre-packaged "personal cloud" box that you plug in at home, install an app, and it finds the "cloud box" on wifi, then hooks everything to sync everything.

Spearchucker 12y ago
That cloud box at home is good, I think, as long as Joe Consumer knows to leave it switched on and plugged into the intertubes. So with you on config data.