the cloud is less secure and reliable than an external drive hidden in a drawer.
In today's environment we tend to think of security solely in terms of malefactors but environmental factors must also be considered. Light (artificial or natural), oxidation, heat, humidity, fire, flood, and storm all have to be taken into account as part of data security and reliability. Many years ago the common recommendation for environmental security, included one copy in the computer, one copy on backup media such as a disk, and a third copy off premises in a bank safe deposit vault or preferably in a secure limestone cave. (The bank vault isn't that environmentally secure either, I have seen entire bank buildings, vault and all, ripped off of their foundations and scattered over two states by a tornado.)
The off premises element is virtually the only viable environmental security and there are companies that specialize in providing that kind of physical security — for a very nice price. Few users outside of major corporations have the data volume or value to make that kind of off premises storage economically or practically feasible. Thus the recent growth in cloud storage solutions. The "desk drawer" is among the solutions that are most vulnerable to environmental security considerations. Data breaches and theft make the headlines but environmental losses are equally if not more common. They just aren't glamorous enough to make the headlines and major data centers have adequate protection against environmental damage.
