How many Cloud Services??? Backup Functions?

[oldAGE]

OK... As I fumble around my new S3 (SIII) I can't help wonder what the Hades is with all these services applications. There's Media Hub, Music Hub, Play Music, Google+, Google Backup Transport, Google Drive, Samsung Backup, Samsung Cloud, Sync Services, Verizon Tones, Backup Assistant Plus....

OK, I am used to dealing with the Department of Redundancy Department but... really???

So here is my question to the community. What is my best solution to preserve the integrity of the configuration of my phone? Back in the day, Verizon's Backup Assistant was great for preserving contacts so that you could easily move them from device to device. Now that these are Android/Google/Gmail based systems, I let Gmail (or is it Google Account...) take care of my contacts and calendar. Do I really need my pictures and music backed up in the cloud? If so, which of these fine pile of apps does that? For what it's worth, most of this is stored on my SD card and on occasion completely duplicated to a filesystem on my, dare I say it... PC (which also has a backup drive).

Thanks for your considered. Love, one old dude...
AGE

 

[Principal Skinner]

Old,

Seems like you and I are on the same page with several issues with the SG3. I do like the phone but why so many cloud services. I use drop box and of course gmail, calendar, contacts, etc.
Why do I need Verizon Cloud, sugar sync, and the plethora of back up servises that seem to creep in. It gets very confusing!

I disabled the Verizon back up via the Verizon wireless web site last week and my phone is running smoother