London - We live in a technological world where the phrase “cloud-based solution” has become ubiquitous.
The idea of storing files remotely on a secure server thousands of miles away, rather than within a few feet of our desk, is regularly presented as a solution to problems that, in many instances, were never there in the first place.
So, you might not buy into the cloud as a concept - but sometimes you're not even offered the choice, and the absurdity of one such case is currently causing a kerfuffle.
Razer, a company known for its gaming peripherals and accessories, has just introduced Synapse 2.0, a application that lets you store the settings for your gaming mice and keyboards in the cloud.
But, crucially, the products that use it don't function fully unless they're connected to the internet. If your connection is down, your £70 cutting-edge mouse is transformed into a bog-standard £5 mouse - and users are, understandably, not happy.
Type “Razer synapse” into Google, and the search engine automatically suggests “account locks”, “won't open”, “not working” and “sucks”. Ouch.
The idea behind Synapse 2.0 is pretty sound: if you're playing your favourite game on another computer, you can take your mouse with you and all your settings will be intact, allowing you to “dominate the competition”.
But it also makes for a gadget that's almost pointlessly tethered to the web and imposes unnecessary restrictions on its users. So much for the “freedom” afforded by the cloud. - The Independent