Close the Gate to PC based applications and storage
Greetings from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where I am visiting the American Bible Society offices and spending time with their amazing staff. Speaking of America.. today marks a significant event with the retirement of Bill Gates from active involvement with Microsoft. He handed over the operational duties some years ago, but has remained involved until today. His time will now be spent focused on his philanthropic work. Gates built his empire on software that is housed on our computer’s hard drive, which given the massive changes with the internet, may well soon become a thing of the past.
Take for example storage, why have a massive hard drive when all my files can be hosted by a server and accessed via the net? Which also means I can access them on any computer with a decent connection. One example is X-Drive.
Or why host applications such as a word processor on our computer when we can use a 
web based solution? Where ever we go, via the net we have access to the documents. One popular version of this is ZOHO writer. ZOHO also offer for free, online Spreadsheet, Presentations, Wiki, invoicing, Project Management tools to name a few.
A significant difference with this emerging net driven approach is that it is inherently social in that it promotes connections between people. With the storage option you can easily share files; and the web based applications have the facility for numerous people to work on a document.
Ministry is inherently relational, we need to communicate and connect. The many net applications provide plenty of opportunity for this to happen.
My three top net based connection tools are:
1. Facebook - nothing beats it for staying in touch, building community.
2. ZOHO - amazing online office tool.
3. Instant messaging - Skype is my preferred choice; great to invite a couple of people in for a text based chat.
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One Response to “Close the Gate to PC based applications and storage”
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There are at least two problems with a move towards web-based applications and storage: 1) Security. Given the phenomenal ability of hackers, and the difficulties of maintaining security even on home computers, how long before we start to hear of web-hosted systems being compromised? And I don’t just mean private hackers - governments have developed very powerful tools to intercept electronic communications, and are able to back up their efforts with intrusive legislation. 2) Cost. I cannot afford broadband at home, and with the increasing economic pressures around am most unlikely ever to be able to. Putting food on the table is a far higher priority.