What if the cloud isn’t forever?

In this episode of Data Darling, host L.E. Davis unpacks the hidden infrastructure behind cloud storage — and the cultural shift from prized physical media to ephemeral digital memories. From $9 SD cards to billion-dollar server farms, we trace the evolution of storage, the rise of platforms like Dropbox and Google Drive, and how companies like Meta and Snapchat have become accidental museums of our lives.

Why are we paying monthly fees to store our own memories? Who actually owns your digital footprint? And what happens when archives vanish, but the algorithms still remember?

We’ll dig into:

• The fall of physical storage as a status symbol

• How cloud infrastructure shaped Web 2.0

• The secret cost of “free” storage on platforms like Facebook and Snapchat

• Why AWS and Google Cloud quietly run the internet

• The philosophical (and political) danger of losing access to your own data

👀 Plus: how to protect your digital life with practical tips for data sovereignty.

Whether you’re a cloud minimalist or a digital hoarder, this episode is a must-listen.

🧠 When in doubt…follow the data