I hear you about all the different services. Naturally all these companies want you to use their service exclusively, but I don't think that matches with how real people use the system. I've mostly stuck with iCloud and Dropbox. I have everything backed up here locally, which is fine assuming nothing happens to my home. With things like music and movies, I typically but through iTunes so the purchases are accessible from anywhere.
Part of the solution is really thinking about which data you have that's important to have backups for and which isn't. I have a few hundred GB of data and while I wouldn't want to lose any of it, I know much of it isn't all that important. Purchases can usually be re downloaded. On the work side every site I work on has a backup beyond my network as they live on someone else's server. I could lose documents I've created, but I don't think there's anything that's absolutely vital to save.
One of the best app purchases I made last year was 1Password. Aside from helping you keep more secure passwords, I can access everything in the app from anywhere. You can keep more than login information in the app too.
I think it's inevitable that most of our data will eventually live in the cloud somewhere andI get the feeling the cloud will always remain a vague and fuzzy term. Most people won't think much about where their stuff is specifically stored as long they can access it when they need to.
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