Manufacturer specific cloud storage solutions are a bad idea. If you buy iCloud storage, it won’t work with your Windows PC or your wife’s Android device. This is the message Drew Houston , Dropbox’s CEO, shared with the audience at the Mobile World Congress. He highlighted the danger of getting locked into one manufacturer’s cloud storage solution (which won’t run on devices from any other brand).

Houston talked about a user being able to store a file in the cloud and share it with any user regardless of their consumption device (Blackberry phone, Windows desktop or phone, Android device, etc). His statements are clearly an attack on Apple’s icloud but they should resonate with most users as true.

Interestingly, he spoke about Samsung which had initially built its own cloud storage solution but then migrated its customers to Dropbox by offering free storage.

My primary phone is an iPhone (for now since I’m contemplating switching in October when my contract is up) but there is no way I would buy iCloud storage. My home PCs are all windows and many of my friends and family use Android devices. Plus iCloud has had a few too many reliability issues over the last year.

I think these comments are very powerful and true. Whether you choose Dropbox, Bitcasa, Sugarsync or Box.net, they are all better alternatives than iCloud (notice I didn't include Skydrive in my list either). My only wish is that these companies drop their subscription prices. Storage prices are falling faster than the monthly fees for these services. The ideal solution is an unlimited plan from Dropbox or for Bitcasa for fix the really annoying service limitations of its unlimited storage offering.