"In the South, there was a gentle tradition of 'it's only a crime if you get caught doing it.' Sometimes it was known as the Eleventh Commandment. Thou shall not get caught." ~ C.L. Bevill, Bubba and the Dead Woman
My, we love our technology. It makes life so much easier. I've got my phone, my calendar, my alarm clock, my watch, my camera, my video-recorder, my TV, my games, my books, my newspaper, my fitness trackers, my new year's resolutions, my social networks, and on and on and on ... all on my smartphone. It's incredible. Seriously. I used to dream about this stuff when I was a kid! When the PalmPilot came along, I thought I had hit the jackpot! What did I know! Compared to what we have now, that seems like etching on a tablet. That technology is so dated! As technology improved, I was thrilled to be able to plug a few cords in and instantly transfer things like my photos, or my scheduled appointments from one device to another. It was all so convenient.
And now, oh good heavens! We don't even have to worry about plugging in cords anymore to transfer data. With the advent of the cloud, stuff just magically appears. If I take a picture on my iPhone, it appears on my MacBook and my iPad. If I send a text, it appears on all 3 devices. I can download a book through the cloud that my husband purchased on his iTunes account (seems like a waste now that we each paid $20 for the eBook biography on Steve Jobs) and simple share it instead of having to buy multiple copies.
BUSTED! Three times in recent weeks I have heard from people who discovered their spouse's infidelity because things showed up on their devices after flowing across and floating through the Cloud!
iCaught on iCloud: One woman suddenly found photos that she didn't have any interest in seeing of her husband with another woman show up in her iPhoto account. So much for having to connect and download to have photos save to your laptop!
I love Photostream. According to Apple, when you use Photostream and have iCloud, "when you take a photo on one device, it automatically appears on all your other devices. No syncing. No sending. Your photos are just there." As long as your devices are configurd with the same iCloud account, you're good ... or not so good, depending on your perspective.
Consider this: You might take a selfie on your iPhone with your "secretary" on your work trip out West ... perhaps a casual stroll hand-in-hand at sunset on the beach ... and that photo may near instantly appear on your wife's iPhone back on the East Coast as she's texting you to let you know that she hopes your long meetings are going well and to give you and update that both kids have the flu and just threw up in your bed ... again.
iCaught on iCloud: One man found text messages that his wife was sending to another man. Gone are the days where text messages only showed up on phones. We can now sync with our phone numbers and our emails and "text" from any device. Suddenly, her private texts sent from her phone, were showing up in iMessage on their home desktop computer.
iCaught on iCloud: Another woman started to receive calendar updates with flight information for a business trip her husband was taking ... with his secretary (how cliché!). That family calendar option was a great idea ... in theory ... but when your reservation confirmation information automatically downloads and populates the calendar, it can prove to be dangerous.
In each case, these couples had recently upgraded their technology on their home networks to provide better sharing of data. There's been a lot of focus on the new "family share" programs and capabilities. Oh yes, they shared all right! They shared a whole helluva lot more than they wanted to.
Perhaps gone are the days of smelling a strange cologne on her shirts, or finding lipstick marks on his collar. In this day and age, technology makes it so much harder for people to get away with things that they shouldn't be doing in the first place. Hey, I have an idea. Let's just be good and honest, and not try to get away with things that we shouldn't be trying to get away with in the first place. Naïve, I know! Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Guess what? Being honest, and not having to lead a double life and remember our lies also makes our lives much easier (no iCloud needed!).
What do you think?