I love “the cloud” – that puffy, windy-bagged metaphor they use to denote “the internet” in networking diagrams. A geek joke goes like this: The best way to backup your data is to zip it all up into one big file, give it a racy filename and upload it. The odds are very good your data will still be in circulation a decade later.

I get a kick putting data into the cloud. I love storing data online because I love the ability to connect to it regardless of which PC I’m at or whether my hard drive seized up. I especially love dropping, tossing and throwing bits of data into the cloud and then, during more opportune moments, pulling it back down.

I use two online cloud services: Google Documents and Evernote. Both are free to use, although Evernote has a premium services available for $5/month.

Google Documents

Key strengths include:

• Word processor-like editing environment
• Document sharing and multiple contributors
• Custom folders to hold your documents
• Spell checking
• Support for spreadsheets, forms and presentations
• Runs in any modern web browser with an internet connection

Evernote

Key strengths include:

• Note based: supports simple text and images
• Snippet buttons for your web browser: select text and click to automatically add a new note
• Free iPhone and iPod Touch app for mobile use
• Free desktop app for Windows and Mac
• Will also convert text within an image into searchable keywords (I haven’t tested this yet)

Use With Wisdom

Both solutions allow you to drop data into the cloud for later processing, retrieval, munching, whatever you want. So play to the obvious strengths:

• Need to collaborate or share data? Use Google Docs.
• Need an ‘anywhere I am’ solution? Use Evernote.
• Need to work with longer documents? Use Google Docs.
• Need to “bookmark” interesting websites, content or photos? Use Evernote – it’s designed expressly for this purpose.

For my personal and studio use, I use Evernote as a quick In/Out Box: to save copies of inspirational images, links to new apps, websites, product reviews. I’ll also drop in the occasional “to do” list, but I would much prefer to use a mobile/desktop solution to sync with Google Calendar (let me know if you know of such a thing).

For my personal and studio use, I use Google Docs as a Long Term Filing System: to compose lengthier documents, project inventories, rough idea drafts, recipes, how-to’s, etc.

Love the Cloud

Your life may be different, but my life includes time in front of a computer at home and the entire day at work. And when I’m standing or otherwise elsewhere, my iPod Touch is my pocket computer of choice. So with either of these brain-to-cloud solutions, capturing every idea as it happens is only a habit or two away.

Tags: clipboard, cloud, evernote, google docs, remember

This entry was posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 6:35 pm and is filed under Using Technology to Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. | Permalink