They can’t give up anything. Just like those people you see on TV whose homes are crammed full of unneeded stuff, digital hoarders can’t get rid of files accumulating on their devices.
Western American asked 2,000 Americans how they are tending to their files and discovered that 52% have never deleted anything, and 33% haven’t deleted a thing in the past 10 years.
Michael Garfield, the High Tech Texan, heard Saturday 11 to 1 on AM950 KPRC, says they’re wasting a lot of capacity and slowing down their devices unnecessarily, especially those with iPhones. “They have an iCloud account, where you can take every single one of those photos, all those videos, and take them off the actual storage on your device and put them on the cloud, where you can retrieve them anywhere at any time.” Garfield says everyone should be clearing out computers, phone and laptops regularly. “I recommend doing that at least on a monthly basis, sometimes more if you travel and take a lot of photos.”
As for why people are holding on to old files, the top reason is a fear of deleting something that may be needed some day. Second is fear of erasing a memory or getting rid of someone. 32% find the process boring and avoid it.