Sunday Props: The Cloud
On Thursday night my computer stopped working properly. It could find our local wireless network, but it couldn’t really transfer any data through it. I tried re-setting things, adjusting configurations, and asked the good people at Apple for their recommendation. Their conclusion: bring it in to the store for a look see.
So I did. And they said my computer needed some internal hardware replaced and that I would be without my computer for three to five days.
Sound scary? Did you just imagine what you would do if you had to give up your computer for three days? In my case, I said “okay” and left it there. That bravado is a result of two things: an 8 year old spare PC (on loan from my company) and my close relationship with The Cloud.
Just about everything I do is backed up someplace on the Internet (the cloud). My mail is handled by Gmail and their Enterprise version of Gmail. My calendar is held by Apple’s Mobile Me, and even my files are backed up online through a thing called SugarSync. And, for good or for bad, all my business contact details are stored with Salesforce.com So I when I got back to the office, I fired up the ancient IBM Thinkpad and I’m back in business. In fact, the only feature I don’t have are Slingbox and all my iTunes songs, but both of these are available on the iPhone.
Thank you Internets and all the well designed safety nets that make losing my Mac for a couple of days still bearable.