Living in a “Virtual Existence”

I’ve been catching up on older episodes of the Nerdist podcast and the episode featuring filmmaker J.J. Abrams was next on my list. Now don’t get too excited, this interview was conducted a few years ago so there’s nothing on it discussing Star Wars Episode VII. I knew of Mr. Abrams’ work mostly from Alias and Lost. I never got a ticket for the Felicity train – wasn’t my thing.

It was a good interview and there’s something nerdtastically charming about Chris Hardwick as an interviewer that makes each episode interesting. During the interview, there was something that Mr. Abrams said that really stood out to me.

“We’re living in a time of virtual existence paying for things with money you don’t see to get something you can’t actually hold.”

That’s a very eye-opening statement. The ability to buy and pay for goods virtually is something that so quickly became “the norm” for our society, it’s easy to overlook its implications.

I don’t remember the last time I bought a physical music CD, and the same goes for movies – although that was at least in the last 18 months. I even pay my rent online simply by transferring money directly from one account to another so I barely write checks anymore. Any content I create, like photographs, are being posted online through sites like Flickr or Instagram so I can do my part to keep the virtual cycle going.

But through this “virtual existence”, one thing remains an actual constant – my storage.

I’ve been in the tech business long enough to know that sometimes things happen. Sites I used to support by visiting have gone to the WWW graveyard. Big companies acquire little companies and services are shut down. If you keep an eye on the ever-changing landscape of the Internet, you know nothing lasts forever, but that’s why we’ve made Seagate Backup Plus. With up to 2TB of capacity in a design that’s slim enough to fit in your pocket, it’s good to have something tangible in a virtual reality.

It’s important for me to have copies of my family photos just in case something happens. My photos are priceless and if something were to happen to one of the sites I have them on, I’d be devastated. So having an additional backup gives me a sense of comfort that is anything BUT virtual.

Technology is an incredible thing. In the last few years, we’ve seen the rise of things like NFC (Near-Field Communication), virtual wallets and personal cloud computing. These are just some of the technological advances made all in the hope of making life easier.

Yet some things should still be done in the physical world, right? Like backing up your content.  So do yourself a favor – get a Seagate Backup Plus and prepare to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, your content is the best way to leave a tangible mark in virtual existence.