The thing that is needed is a cloud storage API that is mandatory by law and is required to be honored by the OS. The OS vendors create a virtual cloud storage layer which has a backend that can be implemented by any cloud storage provider and then all the apps use these abstractions when loading, saving, and so on their data to the "cloud." Which can be anything from a third-party online service to a self-hosted solution. It should be implemented in all apps that support cloud-based content, music, books, movies, home environmental data, medical data, exercise history and the like. Silicon Valley has developed an arrogance, and they need to be reminded that they are subject to laws and regulations like all of us and that it could be much worse for them if they continue to be wankers.
there are already protocols for exchanging files between computers. The cloud is just someone else's pc.... administered by mostly incompetent buffoons (or forced to act like incompetent buffoons by their higher ups). A "cloud" protocol doesn't make sense. Since a "cloud" could be any of a ton of wildly unrelated things, there is only one sane standard protocol that could be shared. It's called IPv4 (or v6)
Not just some cloud protocol, but an abstraction layer at the OS for the apps to talk to so that the cloud storage back-end can be replaced with no knowledge, participation, or consideration from the applications that a user uses.
I take my shiny new phone, go to settings, then cloud provider where I specify Acme Cloud Bit and Bobs Inc. And now everything just works with Acme Cloud. I switch it to Globodisk Corporation and everything just continues working. Maybe the OS does a nice one and asks if I want to migrate all my storage from Acme Cloud to Globodisk and performs said migration. And the apps never know or care.
But it would need to be mandated by some large political entity as no tech company would do this and give up the lock in that they desperately want.
