The Quantum Theory of Data Storage on Websites

First, I plan on updating this later to include links to relevant articles.

I have been noticing recently that many websites are increasing the storage they allow their customers/users to place on their sites (think Gmail, Hotmail, etc.). Some such as Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo Mail even allow unlimited storage. Recently, I have noticed that at least one service, Twitter while it only allows posts of 140 characters has made it difficult to find a history of previous posts (I don't like calling them tweets). I looked at the history that Twistory was able to access and for me it seemed to go back about three weeks. They say that they still have everything stored, but if it is not accessible then it is of no use.

On the other side, up until about two weeks ago if you posted pictures on Facebook it would be saved at a lower resolution. Now that Facebook has made it possible to download all of your data this is even more obvious.I sure hope nobody was relying on them to keep a high-quality copy of their pictures. At the same time Facebook makes it nearly impossible to remove material from the site. Once you have posted something it is as good as engraved in stone (see recent removal of clear chat history option).


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