Ever since the term ‘cloud computing’ became popular, I have failed to see what all the hype is about. With the recent talk about Chrome OS having no onboard programs, only webapps, and Google’s Nexus One focusing so much on web services, I began thinking about it and I realized that–the fact is–I hardly use the internet. Allow me to enumerate what I do on- and off-line.
Online
- Check GMail (find nothing new)
- Check the Drudge Report (read only the headlines)
- Download half-a-dozen RSS feeds to Liferea (predominantly Slashdot and Hacker News)
- Look stuff up (thank you, Wikipedia)
- Be bored by Facebook (after about five seconds)
- Buy stuff from Amazon (more frequently than I probably should)
- Watch TV and movies (TV network sites, Hulu, and Netflix)
- Coming soon: talking on the phone (Skype)
Offline
- Write stuff, use spreadsheets, make presentations (Office 2007)
- Write Python code
- Design stuff in CAD and Blender
- Edit images and video
- Watch TV (DVDs from Netflix)
While the Offline list may be shorter than the Online list, don’t let it deceive you. I spend an average of half an hour online per day. That’s all.
I know I could do my word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations on Google Docs, but I hardly see the point. Yes, I could access them from any computer (but why would I when I have a laptop to take everywhere?), and I could collaborate with others (but I’ve only needed that about five times out of hundreds). The overriding fact is that Office 2007 is better software than Google Docs: it’s faster, more power, and even with the hassle of installing it on Ubuntu, it works better.
When it comes to the personal organization stuff, I’ve become a bit eclectic. For calendar management I use Outlook at work and–believe it or not–an actual wall calendar at home. As for having a mobile solution, I’ve actually gone back to using Windows Mobile on an HP iPAQ I had lying around. Same for task management, actually. Despite the sleeker iPod Touch, I actually use the old PDA quite a bit (a lot of that has to do with a way better, if unconventional, keyboard).
It’s true that I’m carrying around four devices when I could be carrying around one smartphone: PDA, iPod, phone, and GPS, but what happened to the old adage, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”? I suppose if it was all webapps, it wouldn’t matter if you lost or sat on your phone; just replace it and you’ve lost nothing. Of course, if the company providing the webapp goes under, then you’re in trouble (though I suppose the likes of Google and Facebook would be considered “too big to fail”).
It has occurred to me that perhaps I’m just not the sort of person who needs all those web services (or maybe I’m just not at a busy enough stage of life). Maybe…
…or maybe I’m the sort of person who spends most of my time constructing rather than consuming.
