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Personal cloud to replace PC by 2014??

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Marc said:
billcosby said:
^^ Agreed. To put all your personal shite in the hands of some corporation?
Eliminated or copied at the whim of a CEO?
No thanks. It's a ridiculous idea.

Cloud software on the other hand... no local installing. I kind of like that idea.
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But they are going to have a long way to develope web based versions of current desktop apps though.

I've played around with with Microsoft Web Apps (MS Office running through a web interface) and the functionality is very limited compared to what you get with the full version.

Now there's a lot of stuff in Word for example that most people don't use but not supporting Word Art and insert pictures?
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Web-based versions of desktop productivity software will get better over time. For simple document writing, I find Google Docs pretty handy just because it's available from anywhere. I've been rethinking using it since they updated their TOS, though...

Then you have making it work on all browser

Web Apps only works properly with IE and what's to stop Google from tweaking their software to only work with Chrome?
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MS probably has no interest in making it work on all browsers, since they are always pushing IE.

Google doesn't write their own HTML engine. They use Apple's WebKit. However, they do have Gears for Chrome which allow adding non-standard functionality to Chrome, so Google has already laid the groundwork to go down this road if they want to.
 
The cloud can stay where it is.. i read a report about the user terms of various cloud service providers amongst them the big ones like Apple and Google and it was appaling how many rights they grant themselves over the data you store on their server up to giving them the right to modify, copy and use everything you store there.

Privacy my ass.. whoever stores their most private data on such a service deserves everything he gets.
 
FPAlpha said:
The cloud can stay where it is.. i read a report about the user terms of various cloud service providers amongst them the big ones like Apple and Google and it was appaling how many rights they grant themselves over the data you store on their server up to giving them the right to modify, copy and use everything you store there.

Privacy my ass.. whoever stores their most private data on such a service deserves everything he gets.
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This. You just know the first thing that'll happen if the cloud takes off is the copyright police will ram through some law requiring providers to root through you files in search of non-copyrighted material. Screw that.

Honestly, I HATE when industry tries to force new technology down are throats. I've resisted Blu-Ray (dvd's go bare-bones while BR gets all the extras), and moving from desktop computing to handheld (damn Windows 8). And I'll damn well be fighting the Cloud.
 
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LOL, all these online services make you incredibly dependant on the mood swings of the providing company. Have all your data stored in a cloud. Oh, and then the company goes bankrupt and BAM, all your data is gone. Have all your software application inside the cloud, used over a web interface, and no longer installed locally, and BAM, once the service is gone, forget that you ever used that app. And if things go really bad, you won't even be able to ever use your documents again. Hell, we're moving into a world where you won't be able to even USE a program when you have problems with your internet connection, even though that program doesn't even need online access. That's totally ridiculous. Copyrights is another big issue, because once your personal data is in the cloud, you can't claim any longer that it's just for your personal enjoyment. So the provider will come down like a fucking anvil on all the stuff that violates anyone's copyright. That funny cat image you like? Has no business on our servers since it violates terms of use. Account suspended. And shit. And let's not talk about privacy of your data, because there is NONE. Cloud services will be successfully hacked on a regular basis.

OH, and on top of it all, you either pay a monthly fucking fee for all these services, or get all your personal, account and behavioral data ass-raped for advertisment. And you will be FORCED to buy upgrades. Because cloud sourced Microsoft Office 2016, Windows 9 and Photoshop CS 7 will simply stop working when the new versions are there.

Not so much when you can use your documents and applications locally.



Fucking stupid sheep.
 
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JarodRussell said:
Oh, and then the company goes bankrupt and BAM, all your data is gone. Have all your software application inside the cloud, used over a web interface, and no longer installed locally, and BAM, once the service is gone, forget that you ever used that app. And if things go really bad, you won't even be able to ever use your documents again.
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Fortunately, DropBox doesn't work that way. The folder is first stored ON YOUR OWN COMPUTER and everything you put into it is THEN clouded.
 
JarodRussell said:
LOL, all these online services make you incredibly dependant on the mood swings of the providing company. Have all your data stored in a cloud. Oh, and then the company goes bankrupt and BAM, all your data is gone. Have all your software application inside the cloud, used over a web interface, and no longer installed locally, and BAM, once the service is gone, forget that you ever used that app. And if things go really bad, you won't even be able to ever use your documents again. Hell, we're moving into a world where you won't be able to even USE a program when you have problems with your internet connection, even though that program doesn't even need online access. That's totally ridiculous. Copyrights is another big issue, because once your personal data is in the cloud, you can't claim any longer that it's just for your personal enjoyment. So the provider will come down like a fucking anvil on all the stuff that violates anyone's copyright. That funny cat image you like? Has no business on our servers since it violates terms of use. Account suspended. And shit. And let's not talk about privacy of your data, because there is NONE. Cloud services will be successfully hacked on a regular basis.

OH, and on top of it all, you either pay a monthly fucking fee for all these services, or get all your personal, account and behavioral data ass-raped for advertisment. And you will be FORCED to buy upgrades. Because cloud sourced Microsoft Office 2016, Windows 9 and Photoshop CS 7 will simply stop working when the new versions are there.

Not so much when you can use your documents and applications locally.



Fucking stupid sheep.
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That was quite a hyperbolic rant.
 
JarodRussell said:
LOL, all these online services make you incredibly dependant on the mood swings of the providing company. Have all your data stored in a cloud. Oh, and then the company goes bankrupt and BAM, all your data is gone. Have all your software application inside the cloud, used over a web interface, and no longer installed locally, and BAM, once the service is gone, forget that you ever used that app. And if things go really bad, you won't even be able to ever use your documents again. Hell, we're moving into a world where you won't be able to even USE a program when you have problems with your internet connection, even though that program doesn't even need online access. That's totally ridiculous. Copyrights is another big issue, because once your personal data is in the cloud, you can't claim any longer that it's just for your personal enjoyment. So the provider will come down like a fucking anvil on all the stuff that violates anyone's copyright. That funny cat image you like? Has no business on our servers since it violates terms of use. Account suspended. And shit. And let's not talk about privacy of your data, because there is NONE. Cloud services will be successfully hacked on a regular basis.

OH, and on top of it all, you either pay a monthly fucking fee for all these services, or get all your personal, account and behavioral data ass-raped for advertisment. And you will be FORCED to buy upgrades. Because cloud sourced Microsoft Office 2016, Windows 9 and Photoshop CS 7 will simply stop working when the new versions are there.

Not so much when you can use your documents and applications locally.



Fucking stupid sheep.
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Oooooookay. [/backs away slowly]
 
^Paper less office, must have missed that. Is it just me but when companies try to reduce the amount of paper work, we actually end up with more?
 
^^^ Actually the original statement qualified that as the creation of more information in paper form - something the digital age was supposed to alleviate - also something which, anyone who has worked in or for the public sector (such as myself) can claim as undeniably true and, therefore, not meaningless.
 
137th Gebirg said:
^^^ Actually the original statement qualified that as the creation of more information in paper form - something the digital age was supposed to alleviate - also something which, anyone who has worked in or for the public sector (such as myself) can claim as undeniably true and, therefore, not meaningless.
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Let's assume that the increase in physical paperwork is true--is this meant to be an indictment of the use of computer technology, or what? What conclusion are you (or MacLeod) attempting to draw from it?
 
The personal conclusion I've derived from 20 years in the IT industry, is that so-called digital efficiency is a pure figment. And it's not necessarily the fault of the technology itself, by any stretch, but how it's used by those who really don't know what they're doing. Instead of replacing paperwork with emails or content management tools, many managers (mostly of the non-technical afraid-of-soulless-machines variety) still demand paper forms to be filled out by their workers. Sure, they can be digitally disseminated, but you have to print out multiple copies and hand-deliver them via inter-office mail, or by hand, etc. Why is this? Because the technophobes in charge feel more comfortable with a physical piece of paper in their hands. They still have filing cabinets full of crap that could all be easily kept on a hard drive. It's all about coddling their comfort zone. These are the same people that make technical decisions, either completely uninformed, or they read something "kewl" in a trade journal and forced their hapless engineers to shoehorn some dumbass new technology without properly vetting the pros & cons. Then, when the technology doesn't work because it sucks, or it can't talk to some other ill-designed piece of flotsam, that only reenforces their silly phobia of technology even further, muddying the waters even deeper for all concerned.

What we wind up with is a mish-mash of stacks of useless paper, combined with 30+ year-old legacy turds that won't flush (remember the "Cobol scare of Y2K?") mixed heterogeneously with more modern systems. Some of these people should really be forced to retire.

Long and short of it - the advent of the digital age has not made our lives any easier - on the contrary, it feels like things have become much more needlessly complicated.
 
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Robert Maxwell said:
137th Gebirg said:
^^^ Actually the original statement qualified that as the creation of more information in paper form - something the digital age was supposed to alleviate - also something which, anyone who has worked in or for the public sector (such as myself) can claim as undeniably true and, therefore, not meaningless.
Click to expand...

Let's assume that the increase in physical paperwork is true--is this meant to be an indictment of the use of computer technology, or what? What conclusion are you (or MacLeod) attempting to draw from it?
Click to expand...

Perhaps that extrapolative predictions about tranformations of behavior resulting from technological innovation are phantasms.
 
My Name Is Legion said:
Robert Maxwell said:
137th Gebirg said:
^^^ Actually the original statement qualified that as the creation of more information in paper form - something the digital age was supposed to alleviate - also something which, anyone who has worked in or for the public sector (such as myself) can claim as undeniably true and, therefore, not meaningless.
Click to expand...

Let's assume that the increase in physical paperwork is true--is this meant to be an indictment of the use of computer technology, or what? What conclusion are you (or MacLeod) attempting to draw from it?
Click to expand...

Perhaps that extrapolative predictions about tranformations of behavior resulting from technological innovation are phantasms.
Click to expand...

I will grant you that. If nothing else, 137th Gebirg's post right above yours shows that the problem isn't technology itself, but the people who won't use it (or won't take the time to learn to use it as intended.)

On the other hand, I wouldn't be so quick to claim that technology has been more of a hindrance than a help. Were that true, worker productivity would either be flat or declining. Instead, the trend remains upward. You could argue that technology hasn't helped as much as promised, and I would agree with that, but 137th seemed to be implying technology has made it worse--and I see no good evidence of that. Maybe in his specific case, technology has created more red tape and busy work, but that can't be the case across the business world, unless the productivity numbers are simply wrong.
 
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