I have been running a new series of posts on my website for the past few months.
I am taking old TV shows I produced and posting them. It is fun to look at where we were in the "state of the art" five or 10 or even 15 years ago.
As I preview the old shows (Is that right? How can I "preview" them if I have already broadcast them? I guess "watch" is more accurate) I always grin and have an "I remember that" moment.
This week I posted a show about migrating from Windows to Apple. It was made in 2005, and Apple wasn't on top of the world the way it is today. Two things struck me about that show, other than how fine I looked seven years ago!
Firstly, I noticed how constrained we were to our computers back then. As I migrated to the Mac, the amount of effort we had to go through to move data from one computer to another was overwhelming. This was before we fully understood the concept of "cloud computing." I had to move my email, my calender, my contacts - all my data that today lives in the cloud.
When I get a new computer, I am up and running in a matter of 45 minutes or so instead of hours. Whereas I previously needed to import and export all that data, now I simply have to log onto my virtual accounts to have access to pretty much everything. From photos (in Flickr) to music (iTunes Match) to Calender and email and contacts (Gmail, Google Calender and Google Contacts) the old process of my data living on a single computer and my digital life revolving around it is gone.
I really don't even have to install many applications anymore, although I do install Microsoft Office still, but just for Excel. Goggle Docs fills in the rest of the void.
This is not to say there are no longer any applications that I choose to install and use that are not cloud based.
Increasingly, I am smitten by a word processor called Scrivner. And I can't do without Keynote on the Mac (I hope to never have to use PowerPoint again as long as I live). But for general productivity, the cloud is where it is all happening.
The beauty of cloud computing is all this data that comprises our digital life is also accessible on our other devices - smartphones, tablets and all. And we are up and running with them just as fast!
The other thing that stood out for me was the fact I spent the entire show talking about moving over to the Mac, and I still showed a non-Apple PDA, the Palm Tungsten (I miss Palm; they made really nice products). Today of course, the iPhone or iPod Touch would fill that place in the show, and unlike seven years ago, many a Windows user chooses to use Apple products for their PDA or smartphone.
You know, seven-year-old cars still look pretty new to me; seven-year-old technology . ancient!
Steve Dotto is host of Dotto Tech, 6 p.m. Wednesdays on AM650. E-mail your questions and comments to questions@ dottotech.com. Visit him online at www.dottotech.com or at www. facebook.com/dottotech.
