All Content
All Content
Podcast in iTunes
Follow me on Twitter
Loading ...Switching from Desktop to Online Tools
July 3rd, 2007 | Posted in Web Design |
Lately I’ve had the urge to abandon my main desktop tools and use online tools instead. It’s not just that some online tools are more capable than desktop tools, but it just feels right to be online. When you’re online, you’re connected, integrated, at home. The world is at your fingertips. Because of the limitations of bandwidth, I can’t fully break free from my desktop, but for many applications, the potential is there. Here’s how I can change:
- Instead of Microsoft Outlook, use Gmail.
- Instead of FeedDemon, use Google Reader.
- Instead of Microsoft Word, use Google Docs and Spreadsheets.
- Instead of to-do lists and other notes stored on Word documents, use Mediawiki.
- Instead of a journal that you keep on your desktop, use Wordpress.
- Instead of adding favorites to IE, use Del.icio.us.
- Instead of storing documents in folders, store them in a file directory on a Web host.
- Instead of keeping photos in folders, use Flickr.
The applications I can’t get away from include things like NotePad++ (for editing PHP files), Yahoo Music Engine, Audacity, a screen-demo tool called Blueberry Flashback Express Recorder, FeedStation (a podcatcher), and FTP programs like FileZilla. For the most part, these inescapable programs work with audio or visual files that are too big to manipulate online.
Why Convert to Online Tools?
I’m converting online in part because the functionality is better for some of these apps — specifically Google Reader and Gmail. I also like how spreadsheets can be shared — if you’re coordinating a budget between two people, you’ve suddenly got a central location.
However, the real deal-maker for me was Mediawiki. I’ve always struggled to keep my Word files orderly, and I do a lot of writing — whether the documents are notes, thoughts, quotes, stories, goals, plans, lists, or other things I’m writing down. The desktop method doesn’t force me to organize the files very well. Files get lost easily — they’re misplaced, poorly named, deleted. Sorting and arranging options are limited.
The Greater Benefit
Can the same disorganization happen online? Probably, but perhaps it’s less likely. Perhaps the wiki will help guide me into more organization and structure than my desktop. Of course if you travel, your files will always be within reach. There’s comfort knowing that. But the greater benefit seems to be the mental state of simply being online — not having one foot in the desktop world, another foot online. But being wholly online, letting the network run through your body like fiber-optic nerves.
What other tools do you use online that I’m missing here?
Like this post? Subscribe to the RSS feed 
.
Related Posts
- Are We Moving Toward GooOS, the Google Operating System?
- Online SIG links to TechWriterVoices
- The WordPress Plugins I’m Using — See Screenshots of a Wide Variety of Plugins
- Top 10 Workspace Configurations for Technical Writers
- WordPress as Budgeting Software: Mo.neytrack.in
July 4th, 2007 at 5:06 am
Hi Tom,
Really funny I was talking to a colleague how I’m finding the web has become like the application server, and we are the “dumb terminals” like the old mainframes and dumb terminals of a by-gone era.
I took the slow way to that realisation myself, as I recently saw a simple definition someone made:
“Web2.0 - the web as a platform”.
Again, keep up the great work!
July 4th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Great post, Tom. That’s the way I’ve been going too. I started using Gmail as soon as I could get an invite and when they launched Gmail for domains I switched that mail, too. I also use Google Reader and a number of online bookmarking tools. Thanks for the tip about MediaWiki. I will certainly be investigating.
July 4th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I gave up iCal and OmniOutliner for Google calendar and Todoist. And as for Google as an operating system, it has other potential as well. Last year my university traded WebCT for Blackboard, a course management system so heinous that I spent last spring teaching a course using only Google tools (especially Google Groups and Google docs). Now if I could only wangle a sabbatical with Google to help them move into the higher-ed market…
July 4th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Tom,
GrandCentral provides an interesting offering that you may be interested in. The basic idea is you get a phone number that you can assign to ring any number of other numbers so it’s like one number you could use from now on to ring home, work, and cell phones no matter if those numbers change for what ever reason.
The part that you may find particularly interesting is the WebCall button that you can put on your site that will let people call you from a website without you giving out your number.
They were recently purchased by Google so everyone will know about it before long!
July 4th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
One decentralized app that really knocked my socks off is EyeOS - an open source web-based operating system! It’s a little light on apps at the moment because the code was largely rewritten for the recent version 1.0, but many are forthcoming.
The real mindboggler is that this web-based OS has a web browser! That you can use to browse a web-based OS!! Cosmic!
Check out the official EyeOS site here - http://eyeos.org/
I’m also running my own server here. Feel free to make an account - http://desktop.demodulated.com/
And thanks to Jo for introducing me to todoist - I love its no-nonsense simplicity!
July 4th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Remember the Milk is my ‘to do’ manager of choice, and with Google Browser sync installed I can move web sessions between home and work easily. Side Job Track for.. um.. side jobs.. and I’m toying with Highrise for contact management.
Ohh and the odd Basecamp for misc projects (currently for the IDEA2007 conference website).
I do use Flickr as well but not as the main storage, only for the selected few… once they have a bulk export available I might change that policy.
Ohh and don’t forget senduit for transferring large files.
July 4th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
[...] http://www.idratherbewriting.com/2007/07/03/motiviations-for-switching-from-desktop-to-online-tools/Lately I’ve had the urge to abandon my main desktop tools and use online tools instead. It’s not just that some online tools are more capable than desktop tools, but it just feels right to be online. When you’re online, you’re connected, integrated, at home. The world is at your fingertips. Because of the limitations of bandwidth, I can’t fully break free from my desktop, but for many applications, the potential is there. Here’s how I can change: [...]
July 4th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
O guess that, as we can (and have to) do more and more things on the computer, the role it plays in our lives becomes bigger and bigger. Desktop life puts two problems to this.
First, mobility is essential, and you can’t just carry everything with you, even in your notebook or handheld.
Second, you need more safety, and most people are not able or are not willing to keep data as safe as it should be. Delegating this service to a third party is a good solution, especially when it’s free.
But I always liked to have my own space and this is why I keep my own services running on hired server space. It is more trouble than just using free services, but is like having MY desktop on the web, fantastic!
I even keep my web projects and many less common things on SVN on the server. If I need, I can just checkout my data on any internet powered computer in the world and the changes I make will automatically reflect on my usual working environment.
July 4th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Thanks for all the comments on this post. I just wanted to respond to everyone so far in one post:
eldavo — thanks for sharing the Web 2.0 definition. Short and sweet.
Sharon — Mediawiki requires web hosting, just so you know. It’s prob. the most robust wiki out there. I love it.
Jo — thanks for letting me know about Todoist. I hadn’t heard of that before and it looks really useful. On another note, I used to be a former instructor in a program where WebCT was used heavily, and I can empathize with your pain.
Clyde — thanks for the tip about Grand Central. I’d heard about the service but didn’t give it much attention because I only have one cell phone (no landline). Still, the button might be nice to add it to my site. Thanks for pointing it out.
Brian — the eyeOS app had my stunned. I downloaded it and checked it out myself. It seems very cool. But I’m wondering if you have found it useful. While it seems to be a traveler’s dream, their document editor seemed a little primitive compared to Google’s, so I’m not sure I would jump into it. Still, I think it’s very interesting. Thanks for sharing that.
Gordon — I hadn’t heard of Remember the Milk, but it also looks like a great tool, and one that fits into the Google line or products. Thanks for pointing that out. I used the Flickr to store my photos. I snap tons when taking pictures and only a few are good, but I’m reluctant to delete the others.
Guilherme — SVN is something I often hear about with open source projects, but I hadn’t taken the time to learn more about it until now. I can see how popular a tool it has become for programming. Re web hosts, I think in the future everyone will have shared hosting in a data center somewhere so they can access their content from anywhere.
Thanks everyone for sharing your favorite online tools.
July 5th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Despite the advantage of gmail, Google’s use of email content to serve ad creeps me out. Just don’t think I could get comfortable with that. There are lots of other online email options that don’t mine email content.
July 5th, 2007 at 9:45 am
What others match the functionality of Gmail, though? I haven’t tried them all, but Google has been far and away the best choice for me. Besides, I enjoy the spam recipes in my trash bin. (Inside humor for Gmail users… in your Spam folder, the “customized” news item is always a recipe using spam.)
July 5th, 2007 at 11:09 am
EyeOS is just a proof-of-concept as it stands today. Supposedly versions preceding 1.0 had tons of apps and games which were unfortunately rendered unusable due to major kernel rewrites.
Browsing through the forums reveals a very enthusiastic and responsive dev team and enthusiast community. It’s very cool to see how thoroughly they programmed things like user security, a streamlined GUI, and third-party app compatibility.
I think the EyeOS team’s top priority is to make a very stable, simple web-based OS platform. Although usability isn’t #1 on the list I’m astounded at the fantastic job they’ve done. For example, I love how the login box shakes horizontally, telling you “no”, when you enter the wrong password.
July 5th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
@Janet Majure - I agree Gmail has some creepy things but I find it is the best mail service I’ve seen yet. It has changed so profoundly the way we use email that is hard to imagine how to do this on the traditional interfaces.
Coupling this with my previous comment, and in agreement to Tom’s response to me, I’ll say that it is about time to have a webmail tool that follows the Gmail Philosophy and can be downloaded and installed on your own server.
I would happily install such a tool on my host and have “my own Gmail” to handle my accounts but, if such a tool exists is unknown to me and “Squirrel Mail” and its fellows just aren’t good enough
July 5th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Tom,
Here’s a list of web based apps that, if you haven’t come across it already, I think you will find interesting.
Enjoy!
July 6th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Thanks Clyde. That’s an interesting list. My favorite is the Random Note Generator. That might come in handy for something. Exactly what I’m not sure, aside from ransom notes.
One other noteworthy tool there is Zoho. Zoho seems to have a more comprehensive line of tools than Google even, with a wiki, web conferencing, CRM, and PowerPoint.
I haven’t experimented much with Zoho. I do like Google’s email and RSS reader tools. Who knows, maybe Zoho’s are even better. Somehow Zoho is still pretty obscure, while most people have integrated Google into their regular vocabulary.
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
Definitely the wave of the future. Another benefit I’ve found is being able to pull up many of my online tools in my BlackBerry browser on the go.
My additions to the list:
PBWiki is a great hosted Wiki. I’m setting it up for lightweight project management tasks at my company.
I use Stikkit to keep my notes, calendar, contacts, and to-dos organized. It has a great natural language parser that makes it easy to toss data in and let Stikkit figure out what it’s supposed to be.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:12 am
Hi Tom,
I just came across this link and remembered your post here:
The Freelancer’s Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need
http://www.cogniview.com/convert-pdf-to-excel/post/the-freelancers-toolset-100-web-apps-for-everything-you-will-possibly-need/
August 4th, 2007 at 7:57 am
Thanks eldavo. I think I saw that link the other day and was impressed by the research and compilation of those tools. It’s definitely a good link to add here.
October 20th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
[...] Switching from Desktop to Online Tools from I’d Rather Be Writing [...]
June 25th, 2008 at 6:30 am
[...] from desktop to online tools Tom Johnson has a post about switching from desktop to online tools. I’ve blogged about this quite a bit myself, and I use several online tools regularly, including [...]