Firstly, let’s clarify what we mean by ‘cloud consumer services’. What we are talking about here are widely available file sharing, syncing and backup services. They use a client program on the computer or mobile device; when a change is made (such as a new document being created) it is ‘synced’ to a secure area on the cloud, from where it can then be accessed by any other device the user may have. Alternatively, it can be considered as a (hopefully) safe backup location, from where the data can be recovered in the event of problems. For inclusion here, the service should have a basic free offering, along with a low-cost option for additional storage.
There are literally dozens if not hundreds of such services. As the market continues to mature, there will be a shakeout and many of these services will vanish. Some will simply go to the wall, whilst others will be taken over and absorbed by competitors. Many PC vendors currently offer proprietary cloud services to their customers – these too can be anticipated to go. For this reason, we suggest sticking to the big names who are committed to this game and who are likely to be around in years to come. The candidates here (in no particular order) are Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Apple iCloud, Box and hubiC.