The year of the cloud
What’s the value of a particular computer? Very little. I, like most people, spend time with various computers and mobile devices. The real value for me is the data that I generate and the people with whom I interact.
When I first started using computers (the Commodore Pet), storage capacity on computers was almost zero. I used cassette tapes to store games. When I accessed a terminal, I would load my game (or data) from the tape (each data source was manually recorded by keeping track of where on the cassette counter it was to be found. For example, when I wanted to play Miner, I’d have to fast forward to 47). The specific computer wasn’t important. Any terminal would do.
When I first purchased a desktop with an internal drive – 40 MB! – I was able to stop swapping disks (I was using 5 1/4 disks by this time). Computing and data was tied to a particular machine. The computer became “my” computer, not “any” computer that I would use to load data. Since that time, I have been confined to the view of the device as rather consequential. My desktop has family pictures, my laptop has work-related files, email, and my Mac book pro has some useful programs only available to the Mac elite.
I find it all rather irritating. I want to have access to everything I need, all the time.
So, for a personal project, I’ve declared 2009 as the year of the cloud. My goal: to be device neutral by the end of 2009. Any data accessible in any device from anywhere.
The importance of device-neutral personal productivity is evident to anyone who spends time traveling. Instead of lugging around the MacBook, wouldn’t an HP Mini be much more comfortable? I’m preparing for an online workshop – The Mobile Professor – and many of the concerns of data security, productivity, data access, and internet connectivity, are barriers.
I think we’re far enough along in the development of web applications that it’s reasonable to move from the computer to the cloud.
I’ve played briefly with MobileMe and Live Mesh. I’m not convinced that these are the solution yet…but I’ll spend more time with each and get a sense of what works, what doesn’t, what’s needed, etc. Similarly, I’ll try and formalize my use of Zoho and Google docs…evaluating whether I should use a loosely structured network of tools (i.e. PLEs) or more formal systems that provide synchronization across different computers.
I don’t want to use a flash drive for sharing documents and accessing resources. I want this to all be automatic. If I use a computer in a public library, I want changes and updates I make to my files to be automatically updated for access on any future device. Google docs does this…but I want it for more than just my documents. I want every file I use to be available from any device as long as I have internet access (I’m assuming internet access, but I’m well aware of the problems when traveling).
When I get a new computer, the typical setup is predicable: Firefox, Skype, Personal Brain, Office, CMAP, Audacity, iTunes, etc. For many programs, the value is my account, not the computer. For example, I can use my skype profile on any computer. As long as the software is installed, I have access to my friend network. Reliance on a particular computer is a bit of a pain – especially for PersoanlBrain and software that doesn’t enable online work/saving/sharing. Not sure how I’ll overcome those concerns yet, but I’ll document my experience here.
The Office suite is a bigger challenge. I have files confined to my primary laptop that I don’t synch across devices. I’ve played with office live, which allows me to upload and share word files with others. Still not convinced…and I’m not enough of a fan of Google docs to make that my primary source for files.
The biggest challenge that I think I’ll personally face is transitioning email. I’m still a user of Outlook (the primary reason I abandoned my Macbook Pro as my primary computer). I like gmail, but the lack of folders for categorization is a big challenge.
Security is another concern I need to consider.
Let the year of the cloud begin…
I recommend you look at Open Office or NeoOffice. This will at least break the MS Office stranglehold and let you go to an open source alternative.
Comment by Chuck — December 27, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
That is an ambitious project I’m sure I will follow. The syncing aspect is certainly a major aspect to take into consideration especially when you don’t want to depend on one computer only. And good internet connectivity seems almost unmissable unless you can also work offline with the online services.
Have a great start into 2009, George!
Comment by anitsirk — December 31, 2008 @ 11:05 am
[...] I have access to what I need as long as I have an internet connection. First post – Year of the Cloud: “My goal: to be device neutral by the end of 2009. Any data accessible in any device from [...]
Pingback by Year of the cloud - elearnspace — January 2, 2009 @ 3:26 pm
Once you get used to using labels in gmail (instead of folders) you’ll never miss the folders. I couldn’t go back to Outlook if you paid me!
Comment by Maria H. Andersen — January 2, 2009 @ 7:32 pm
Take heart George on the move from Outlook to gmail. The control freak in me had a huge fear of leaving my lovely tidy folders for the wilderness of one long list. Now I wouldn’t use anything else. The internal search takes me in nanotime to whichever mail I need to find.
I have recently started to throw important files up into gpace and between it and del.ici.usI find I can leave the laptop at home much more often now.
Good luck with the project, it will be fun to follow it…
Comment by Mags Amond — January 3, 2009 @ 8:08 am
[...] Filed under: Cloud Computing — Michael Ritter @ 4:06 pm Tags: Cloud Computing In a recent post, George Siemens discussed his desire to move to the “cloud” for the coming year in [...]
Pingback by Working in the Cloud - Part 1 « The Digital Professor — January 3, 2009 @ 5:26 pm
I’ve been a fan of Dropbox for synching the other files – it seems to work for the computers I like and use on a regular basis (though you now have me wondering what happens if i want the file when i go to the public library). Cloud is where I try to be.
Comment by Louis Loeffler — January 4, 2009 @ 11:48 am
With respect to gmail, I too was leery of the absence of folders at first. I started embracing their label tagging system, but I quickly found I need neither. I just use gmail’s search (something I shy away from in Outlook because it is pathetically slow) to find what I need.
Manually tagging content with meta info is a losing game, be it email or any other content. It’s still necessary for the time being in some circumstances, but Google’s universe is not one of them.
Cheers and happy New Year!
Comment by Ben Frueh — January 4, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
I will be interested in reading about your experiences. I’m slowing working to move my workflow to the cloud but still feel safer with all my files on local disks. This or more a matter of habit than anything. My university uses Exchange so I have to keep with Entourage and that creates some annoyances. MobileMe has been quite helpful with syncing my home and mobile computers to the university system. Best of luck!
Comment by Jason Mellen — January 7, 2009 @ 2:35 pm
One of the downsides of working “in the cloud” just reared its ugly head. I’ve been a long time user of Google Notebooks for online notes and web clipping. Google recently announced, along with several other services, that they will closing the service. I’m now faced with moving hundreds of clipping to a new service.
Comment by Michael Ritter — January 17, 2009 @ 5:59 am
[...] There has been a lot of speculation recently about Google’s long-awaited online storage tool dubbed Google Drive. The introduction of the G Drive will, Google hope, accelerate the move to cloud computing. Welcome to the vision of cloud computing where all that’s needed is software and data to be reliably accessible online. I am not persuaded as yet to put all my applications and data online. I do use my Mac iDisk to store files and use MobileMe for my Mail, calendars and syncing between devices. There are still a number of issues around reliability, connectivity and privacy that need to be addressed first before I go the whole way. However George Siemens a professor at the University of Manitoba is an early adopter whose aim is to become specific computer-non-dependent by the end of 2009. You can follow his experiences via his blog. [...]
Pingback by The year of the cloud? « Jim Henderson’s Blog — February 2, 2009 @ 10:21 am