What if I don't WANT to "live in the cloud"?

I've been hearing this a lot lately. The future of computer use is "in the cloud". This, of course, refers to cloud computing. The idea is that you won't store your files and applications on your physical PC. Instead, all you stuff will be on some server somewhere, and you'll be able to access it from anywhere. Presumably, this would include redundant backups to prevent the loss of data. We're already seeing the beginning of this with the all the Google tools and explosion of online storage solutions. It sounds like a good deal, right? Not for me.

While I'm in constant fear of losing my data, I just don't want to trust my ability to use a computer to the availability of an internet connection. Just think about it. No internet connection, no files or applications. I think I've been soured on the idea by Comcast. I've spent more time troubleshooting my internet connection than I would have ever thought possible. If it's too cold, the internet goes down. If it's been too long since I had my crappy used modem replaced, it breaks. If some tech has nothing better to do, he "accidentally" damages the local node.

When my connection goes down, I have other options. I can play a game (unless it's steam based), do some photoshopping, or watch a video of some sort on my PC. It just feels too constraining to have everything online. I know that seems counterintuitive, but it's not. The whole cloud computing thing seems too much like shared computing from way back in the day (the day that I never experienced, but I've heard stories).

The general idea seems sound, but I like having a physical computer with my files on it. Backing up to the cloud is perfectly fine, and I already do some of that. But have you seen the crappy upload speeds everyone is getting? I'm damn lucky that when my connection actually works I get about 2Mbit/s up. Even then it takes way too long to get any substantial amount of date uploaded anywhere. ISPs are already complaining about not having enough bandwidth, where is all this capacity going to come from?

I'll be perfectly happy to go along with cloud computing after I have 1Gbit fiber to my door and a constant WiMAX connection to the implanted computer in my central nervous system. I imagine this will be some time after the technological singularity. So just as soon as super-intelligent computers solve all the world's problems and/or kill us all, I'll be happy to entrust all my data to the cloud.