Learning the Cloud

I have a friend who has just got a brand new iphone. He has very little understanding of computers and the internet, apart from searching with Google. He asked me about understanding the cloud. While the Apple icloud will do marvelous things easily for the time being he only understands this as a backup.

To teach him some basics I decided to describe 3 tools Dropbox, Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) and Dropbox. Each is similar and can be used for sharing material and each has differences for which I find it useful to recommend all 3. Each tool has many uses and there are several overlaps in functionality – they can in their own ways do a lot of what the other tools do. However understanding some of the critical differences of each makes for easier solving of problems and use in particular situations. They all save time and help solve problems when understood and used well. Below are some of the reasons why I will make a preference for each – each has more features than I know or could want to describe here.

Dropbox

Often the first point of call as a cloud tool. Primarily it’s point of difference is for file sharing. It has wonderful ease of use for creating separate files on all devices that sync. If you work on a document at work and want to view it at home Dropbox will automatically update your home computer Dropbox, with a copy online so you can view the “box” of files from any other computer on the web. With Dropbox you no longer need a usb stick.

Simplicity to learn and use is its selling point and widespread use. A critical advantage for me is that I can import from Dropbox onto my iPad via goodreader for reading or annotating pdfs. Otherwise I only use it because of its popularity and use by others for sharing files with me for which I have to have a Dropbox account. Otherwise I think I would have stayed with Google Drive.

Google Drive

Formerly Google Docs, Drive is an extension or upgrade of Docs to make it a competitor to the popularity of Dropbox.  Docs was (and still is) fantastic for the sharing of documents either to individuals or making them visible on the web. It was even better for joint editing of documents online. These can either be created online or uploaded as work or excel documents and then downloaded again if needed.  Marvellous for collaborative teaching or working or crowdsourcing ideas. And there is marvellous integrations with many of the other Google tools and applications like gmail. And that is also it’s problem for a newbie like my friend. He has to navigate his way around the world of Google to understand where the useful parts fit in. That is the beauty of Dropbox as it has the “1tool for 1 purpose” advantage making it simple to start and learn. And my friend doesn’t even want a gmail account – he has enough to think about in the new world of apple and the iphone!  Which is also where Evernote fits in.

Evernote

For me Evernote has the advantage of 1 tool for 1 purpose like Dropbox.  For me it works in part because I like to think and work in text – so it is not for everyone in this regard. I write lots of notes, diaries, emails, blogs, recipes and so on. Evernote is a way of organising all these materials. A critical difference is the overall search; and the taggability of each artifact I make. By organising notes into book and individually tagging each note with a set of topics (eg a recipe might be tagged with French, vegetarian, dessert and a few other reference points). The next point of difference is that for shareability I don’t need to require of others that they have an Evernote account (as is needed for Dropbox or Google). I can just  send the link of what I want to share and it opens for anyone in the browser. No need for downloading either. If I want to send a recipe for my mother to look at she doesn’t need to know anything apart from clicking on the link. Another advantage is how easy it is to use on the iPad. The challenge with the iPad – as well as getting documents on, is getting documents off once I have created or edited them. No need to worry with Evernote as the documents I create just automatically sync with the cloud (and with my pc). Previously I used to create most Docs  on the iPad in Notability and then export them to Dropbox. Or create them in Chronicle and export to Google Docs. Evernote takes this step out and I don’t have to think about saving to the cloud – it just happens. And furthermore I can add audio, pictures or video recordings to each document (for example in a meeting or at a conference) making it my app of choice now for writing down most things.

Other thoughts for teaching my beginner friend.

Of course each of these tools will adapt to compete with each other and keep their own niche – for the time being they are a great place and way to learn the cloud. Other tools that could be good for teaching cloud concepts are social bookmarking sites such as Diigo or Delicious. Amazon and the syncing of the Kindle app across devices also makes a good cloud example.Then there is the social web and the mixing of social and cloud tools with ittt.com – but that is a long way down the track.

For the moment I will continue with these tools for my friend.  At the beginning I have made a mistake in attempting to show him Evernote (due to my current enthusiasm) solely on the iphone. He has started making some notes of movies he watches for later reference but still does not have any inkling about the cloud except other than that it might become a backup for his new iphone. It will be better that I take him back to his old pc and show him Dropbox and work through the other 2 tools from there.

Of course there are many other advantages and uses for these 3 tools. What do you like about them and which would you choose to teach a newbie friend about the cloud?

Image: 'What’s on my iPhone'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15261067@N00/3969329831
Found on flickrcc.net