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TechByte 001: Embrace The Cloud, Lose The Thumb Drive

Posted on January 28, 2010 by Clarence Brown   |   Google+   |   Comments

loose.the.thumbdrives.embrace.the.cloud

USB flash drives, also called thumb drives, have been around since the early 2000’s. Prior to that, we found ourselves hauling around floppies. (Anyone remember ZIP drives?) Over the years, floppies have all but gone the way of the dinosaur, and for most college students and information technology professionals, thumb drives seem to be the media of choice. Well, those days are numbered.

Embrace The Cloud

If you didn’t know already, we are in the midst of a connected society. Yes, it’s true people, the cloud is here to stay. And while some fear the notion of storing all their information online or only being able to access their applications via the web, most of the preconceptions and horror of net-based computing have all but faded. Long story short, the cloud is here, embrace it.

Lose The Thumb Drive, Enter Google Docs

Okay, let’s be clear. Google Docs has been an online office document edit/storage service for quite some time now. Google Docs has always allowed you to upload office documents, but up until now these documents were converted to their Google Docs format, allowing you to edit, save, and download the documents online. So nothing new there. But what is new is that Google Docs is now allowing the upload of non-office document types, and giving you the option to not convert uploaded office documents.

What this means? Fairly Simple. Google Docs, along with other online storage services, are making the use of thumb drives obsolete. Even more so, now everyone with a Gmail account now has access to online storage. And upload couldn’t be easier. Click the upload button from the Docs homepage, choose your file, hit start upload, and your on your way.

Not Without Drawbacks

As with most online storage applications/sites, unfortunately their are limitations. No exception here with Google Docs. There is a 1GB limit for non Google Doc files.

Also, embracing the cloud means just that. You have to be online. For most, this will never be a problem. Honestly, when are you ever at a computer and not online? Hardly never.

Conclusion

In closing, this is where everything is going and I don’t see this train stopping no time soon. My advice? Get connected, embrace the cloud, and leave the extra hardware at home.