Last November, Mom declared that she had reached her limit. After making peace with her ailing six year old desktop computer, she became the proud owner of a shiny new laptop. Strutting her stuff, happily sending emails from every corner of the house, Mom was once again back in cyberspace. And on one grim evening in January, it all came crashing down. Literally. Known as the soymilk incident, Mom had dumped a hot, frothy mug of the stuff all over her new machine. It was a quick, painless death.
Enter the cloud. “Cloud computing” is a term that is gaining traction in the ever changing world of computers and technology. In a nutshell, cloud computing refers to the process of storing and accessing personal data over the internet rather than from the hard drive on a personal computer. Put simply, the cloud = online data. Fortunately for Mom, she had been using an online backup service that had been keeping her valuable information and files synced in the cloud. All of her photos, documents and backup files were immediately accessible from the new laptop, which never goes near soymilk.
Shifting data to the cloud has some distinct advantages:
Mobility – For both business and personal use many people rely on cell phones, “smartphones”, iPhones and other similar devices to access appointment calendars, contacts and email. Being able to add someone to a contact list or create an appointment on a phone and have it sync immediately with a computer’s address book and calendar (and vice versa) can be a huge time saver. No more fumbling for scribbled notes stuffed into pockets and backpacks.
Collaboration – I’m writing this article using Google Docs, a free online suite of office applications (think Microsoft Office). Let’s say that my co-authors, scattered around the globe want to tweak and revise this otherwise shining example of tech journalism. They could do so simply by accessing it online and making changes, in real time. No more email attachments getting lost in the shuffle.
Security - Online backup has evolved into a seamless, efficient method for storing and accessing data from a single online source. Services such as the free Windows Sky Drive and Dropbox offer a way to store large amounts of data while making it accessible to a variety of devices. If any one device gets lost, damaged or stolen all of the data resides online in the cloud. No more frantic searches for misplaced flash drives or out-dated backup CDs.
Stability – We’ve all experienced the sudden computer freeze or the dreaded windows “blue screen of death”. We’re all aware of lurking viruses, spyware and the other shadowy files that find their way onto our computers. Fortunately the numerous cloud-based applications like Google Docs, Flickr, and Mint.com are more immune to these various threats simply because they don’t exist as applications installed on the computer. They are managed, updated and backed up online and typically accessed through a web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari…). No more trying to figure out if the old software is compatible with the newest operating system.
Cloud computing isn’t a cure all for backing up, accessing and storing personal information. It does however add an element of ease and simplicity, especially for those of us who are as disciplined about data backup as we are about changing the oil in the car.
Mom might be old school when it comes to the hazards of soymilk and computing. But she is so 21st century when it comes to her digital stuff.
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