How does Skydrive (client) help you save memory on your phone/PC?

[kittshelby]

I have the Skydrive client on my PC and on my Windows Phone. But I just realized that every file that you put into the client is saved in the cloud, BUT a copy is also saved on your desktop PC/phone harddrive. So I guess this provides convenience so that you can access your files from any device and anywhere, but I don't understand how this helps you save memory.

I'm asking this because of all those comments of people saying Windows Phone needs to offer more memory (right now most are only 8 or 16 GB) and then people usually respond by saying "that's why there's skydrive." But I don't understand how that saves you memory if a copy is also saved on your phone?

Can someone explain this to me. Thanks

 

[oldgaius]

Because you can get away with not having things saved on your phone. If you need them they can be accessed/downloaded through SkyDrive. On a PC/notebook conventional storage is incredibly inexpensive (HDDs, not SSDs) so the 'copy of everything' approach is viable. Coming from Dropbox I prefer it this way (because you can deal with files natively, subject them to searches and other operations, as well as having a copy if you can't get online), but you can have a Box.net approach by just removing the PC/Mac app.

Just to be clear on the phone storage issue: you can, for example, remove Office docs from your phone while retaining them on SkyDrive. Next time you access the file, it'll download it again.

 

[kittshelby]

Because you can get away with not having things saved on your phone. If you need them they can be accessed/downloaded through SkyDrive. On a PC/notebook conventional storage is incredibly inexpensive (HDDs, not SSDs) so the 'copy of everything' approach is viable. Coming from Dropbox I prefer it this way (because you can deal with files natively, subject them to searches and other operations, as well as having a copy if you can't get online), but you can have a Box.net approach by just removing the PC/Mac app.

Just to be clear on the phone storage issue: you can, for example, remove Office docs from your phone while retaining them on SkyDrive. Next time you access the file, it'll download it again.

How about for photos? I've noticed that even if you save all your photos on Skydrive rather than on you Windows Phone to save storage, it still saves a copy in the photo hub>albums>skydrive photos. You can still view the thumbnails. And if you click on them while connected to internet, it actually saves the whole picture (so even when you don't have internet, you can view the whole photo).

 

[eLseStudio]

I have the Skydrive client on my PC and on my Windows Phone. But I just realized that every file that you put into the client is saved in the cloud, BUT a copy is also saved on your desktop PC/phone harddrive. So I guess this provides convenience so that you can access your files from any device and anywhere, but I don't understand how this helps you save memory.

I'm asking this because of all those comments of people saying Windows Phone needs to offer more memory (right now most are only 8 or 16 GB) and then people usually respond by saying "that's why there's skydrive." But I don't understand how that saves you memory if a copy is also saved on your phone?

Can someone explain this to me. Thanks

Sky Drive doesn't save memory for you. It's your choice to save the memory or not.

Think of it like a slow back up device rather than your second hard drive on your PC. When your device is low in memory because you stored a lot of pictures in it, you will want to back them up to another place (sky drive). Well, after you back up, you will need to delete those file to free up some space. This act will save your memory.

But to re access your backup file, you will need to retrieve it back to your device and view/edit it. This act will download the file back to your device.

It's a slow back up device that live in the cloud.

Hopes this help.