With all the changes going on in life it’s organizing time again. The GTD system is slowing coming back on line and OneNote is finally starting to come into it’s own. As I print things I want to keep to OneNote, I’m reminded of why I prefer storing items on an always with me UMPC to storing things in online repositories, aka, the Cloud. A UMPC is better because:
1) The cloud loses stuff. There I’ve said it. The vaunted Gmail had dumped users inboxes. Tripod once dumped an entire website of mine without apologies. I then dumped Tripod but it was a free site so I had little recourse. A favorite interviewing video from Manager-Tools is no longer available on the web. I have a local copy and thank God I do. It’s gotten me my last 2 jobs. A couple times a month people come begging for copies but the authors have asked me not to share while they figure out how best to distribute it. So if you relied on the cloud, you got screwed. Yes I still have to have a good backup system, but that’s a lot easier over a LAN rather than figuring out how to backup gigs of photos and email stored on the Internet.
2) The cloud is still less accessible and less mobile. “Internet is everywhere” is still a load of hooey. For fun, go stand in line at the ticket counter of your local international airport and tell the agent, “Wait a minute, I need to bond my PC to Bluetooth so I can check my Gmail and get you the reservation number you can’t find. Computer is booting, just a minute. Ok, phone is bonding. Oh crap, Bluetooth shut down. Just a minute while I reboot. ” Be prepared to run from the angry mob in line behind you. Internet is not everywhere, all the time yet. Even here in Orlando where we have every flavor of high speed cellular internet, Cingular still reverts from HSDPA to Edge periodically with no rhyme or reason. The counter argument is “Yes, but what if you’re away from your PC?”. Um… with my Q1, I don’t know what you’re talking about.
3) Local is still slicker. Too many Web 2.0 applications still aren’t as fast or smooth as their local counter parts. Integration between apps isn’t there. Folks are working on it but I may be sporadic forever. Need to move a Google Calendar item to your HiTask task list? Warming up your typing fingers. I have yet to see anything as slick as the Outlook 2007/OneNote 2007 integration in the cloud.
The PC is still personal, ultra-personal for me.
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Agreed on all counts. I am always amazed and peoples’ tolerances for web transactions, even fast ones. If you fire on all cylinders, a cloud-based solution will ALWAYS fail to keep up with your pace.