With all the hullabaloo surrounding cloud storage it can be easy to forget about the humble USB flash drive.
Just because new, shiny options are available doesn't mean the USB is a dead option when it comes to storing photos, documents and digital media.
When it comes to choosing the best storage technology the first step is identifying the pros and cons of a USB stick and cloud services such as Google Drive or Dropbox.
Here's a look at which approach works for different users:
USB: Best Fit for Security Skeptics, Low-Bandwidth Internet
USB devices are easy and quick, especially for those who don't have fast Internet speeds. No uploading or downloading documents to the Internet is necessary. Simply plug in the thumb drive and drag the files over. Depending on your Internet speed, the process of uploading documents to a thumb drive will likely be far quicker than uploading to online storage. USB drives are also a good fit for simple file transfers at home.
Another reason to stick with the USB is the fact it can prove more secure than cloud storage unless, of course, you lose the drive. If a USB is not plugged in, it cannot be hacked, and if you're a user not always online it's also a good secure option. However researchers reported some security concerns regarding USB devices this summer, but hacks haven't been reported "in the wild" yet. Cloud storage, even Google Drive and Dropbox, are never 100 percent secure.
Google Drive: Best For The Google Friendly, Online Editor Crowd
If you have moderately fast Internet, trust third parties with your data and don't really have anything to hide, then cloud storage is the way to go. Google Drive has fast become one of the more popular consumer cloud storage services, and for good reason.
In fact, if you have Gmail or any other Google service, you already have 15 GB of free storage on Google Drive, which is more than the measly 2 GB offered for free to users of Dropbox. Google also offers priced plans, coming in at $10 a month per TB of storage.
Another good reason to use Google Drive is if you need file-editing tools with your storage, as Google offers Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.
Dropbox: Best for Multiple Device Owners
Dropbox, an early entrant in the cloud storage game, is one of the most popular cloud storage solutions and for good reason. The service offers great storage, especially for those who don't want to use Google's services or be worried about losing a USB drive.
Dropbox is known for its compatibility. It works great on OS X, Windows, Android and iOS, meaning users who have a range of different devices will do well with Dropbox.
Like Google Drive, Dropbox offers users 1 TB of storage for $10 a month. Dropbox also offers $99.99 for a year of 1 TB storage.
Conclusion
The good news with data storage is that there are different options for different scenarios. You might want to use a USB for file moving at home and Google Drive for moving files from work. All of these options are reliable, and while the USB might be getting a little outdated, there is no clear winner.
