Cyber Minimalist: How to Work (Almost) Completely Online

A couple of days ago, I did a little post that mentioned how I don’t use my hard drive to store my files, and that all my files are online. Well, that drew so much interest that I’ve decided to provide more detailed information on the topic.

In the past year, I’ve decided to simplify my computing life and my work needs by trying to work, as much as possible, with online apps and online storage.

I was tired of emailing myself files between home and work computers, or uploading files to web storage and syncing them between computers, or loading them onto flash drives. I’d forget where a file was, I’d spend a lot of time transferring files and organizing things, my two computers were never completely in sync, and it was just too complicated for a minimalist like myself.

Enter online apps, and my newfound simplicity.

Now, my computing life is much simpler than ever before. I use online apps as much as possible — admittedly, my needs are much simpler than most people’s needs, but that’s intentionally so, as I’ve learned that most of the stuff I did was not essential. I’ve slowly reduced my needs, so that online apps can take care of the majority of what I do.

When Online Computing Would Work For You
I must stress that this online solution I’ve been using is not for everyone. It may not meet your needs. If not, move on — I’m not saying everybody should follow what I’m doing.

But there might be some who would benefit from online solution. Here are some reasons you’d store your files online and use online apps:

You use multiple computers. If you carry a laptop everywhere, then you don’t have the problem of transferring or syncing files. But if you have more than one computer, you might consider my solution.
Your needs are simple. If you use desktop software that cannot be replaced by online apps, my solution is probably not for you. You might still consider online storage. If you’re a writer, however, or you deal mostly with word processing apps, spreadsheets, and other common apps, you might be able to get away with what I do.
You do a lot of online work. If you’re a blogger, like I am, or some other type of web worker, and you meet the criteria above, online solutions would be perfect for you.

My Online Solution - How I Work
Let me stress, again, that this is my solution. Your needs will be different. You will want to alter your solution to fit your needs. But I offer the following as an example of how you could work online with a minimalist approach to computing:

Word processing and spreadsheets. It wasn’t long ago when I did a little analysis of my work and realized that the majority of it was done with word processors such as MS Word and AbiWord, and spreadsheets such as Excel or Calc. I decided to try using Google Docs for these needs, and though it was a little off-putting at first, I’ve since learned to embrace the minimalism of Google Docs and Spreadsheets. They don’t have half the features of their Microsoft counterparts, but you know what? I don’t need those missing features. Formatting not as pretty? I’ve become all about the info, not the formatting. Printing not as pretty? I rarely print now. And sharing docs with others is so much easier now.
Blogging. Of course, almost every blogger uses an online app for publishing his blog. I use Wordpress, and it’s simple to use and powerful enough for my needs. I save a post, add a photo, and those things don’t need to be saved on my hard drive.
Photos. I’ve embraced Google’s Picasa, and uploaded all my photos onto my free Picasa account. Yes, I’m a Google freak, and others have problems trusting a company like Google, but I don’t.
Email. This is one of my most heavily used apps. While in my last job we were required to use Outlook, I’ve since been freed to use Gmail, and I’ll never go back. Boy is it so much nicer. And as I tend to clean out my Gmai every now and then, I doubt if I’ll ever come close to the storage limit. The nice thing is that as soon as I email a file to someone, I can delete it from my hard drive, as it’s now stored in Gmail.
Archive and search. This is one of the most beautiful reasons to use online apps: the simplicity of organization. While I used to have a structure of directories and subdirectories for the files on my hard drive (as nearly everyone does, I think), now I don’t worry about folders or even tagging. I archive, and then search when I need a file. That’s it. It works just as well in Gmail as Google Docs as Picasa as Wordpress. No need for filing. It took me awhile to get used to this method, but now I love it. Need to find a document I saved a few months ago? No need to root through folders to find it. Just search. It’s beautiful.
Desktop apps. I do use desktop apps, for some work. For example, AbiWord or DarkRoom for minimal word processing, Photoshop or Gimp for photo editing, AutoHotKey for keyboard shortcuts, some graphics programs, and some specialty apps for my day job. However, I usually use them for a single task, save the file, upload it or email it immediately, and then delete the file from my hard drive.
No hard drive organization. Again, as soon as I save a file my hard drive, I transfer it online (to Google Docs, Gmail, Picasa, Wordpress, etc.) and then delete it from the hard drive. This means that I no longer need to organize files on my hard drive. I still have my old files — I’ve been afraid to delete them, although I will probably do so within a couple of months. But no new files are kept on my hard drive.
Firefox. Of course, the desktop app I use the most is my browser. And for my money, that’s Firefox. (Opera, Safari, Camino and other browser fans will disagree, and that’s OK — this isn’t a debate about the best browser.) Since I do almost all of my work online, Firefox is just about always open, and one thing I love is the shortcuts that give me fast computing all day long. I have keyword bookmarks for every app and site I use often, so opening up a site or app is as simple as typing a couple of letters and pressing enter. Same thing for my common searches on Wikipedia, Flickr, Amazon, IMDB, and much more — they all have very fast keywords, so searches are easy. And Firefox’s extensions have helped me tremendously, including Greasemonkey, Google Toolbar, and more.
Offline work. There are times when I shut down Firefox and open a desktop app such as DarkRoom or AbiWord, just so I can work without the temptation of being connected. I find it peaceful to disconnect, and not have to worry about distractions. But when I’m done with that task, such as writing an article, I’ll save it into Google Docs and delete the original.
Calendar and to-dos. I use (surprise) GCal for my online calendar needs, and my to-dos have found a number of good online tools. (I’ve migrated between Backpack, Tracks, Vitalist, and others, depending on my mood. Right now, I’m using my Moleskine pocket notebook.) There are other online apps I use, most notable among them Google Reader.

Update: Frequently Asked Questions
There were a bunch of excellent questions in the comments that I thought I should address in the article itself, as many readers don’t read all the comments, and I didn’t want to have to deal with the same questions over and over.

What about backups? I don’t actually do backups for the most part. All the companies I use to store my information online backup the information themselves. However, even if there were a problem, I wouldn’t miss any of the information, really, except my blog. And I do backup my blog. However, if you wanted to backup your information, it wouldn’t be hard to do it yourself — you could use your hard drive or web storage in a different location, and just save new or modified files every day or once a week.
What about privacy? This is a real issue for some people, and I won’t deny it. However, I don’t really think Google employees (or whatever company I’m using) have time to read through everyone’s files, and even if they read mine, I don’t have anything secret in my documents. If that’s an issue for you, for whatever reason, online work would be more difficult. You could encrypt files — maybe only those that you really want to protect.
Capture and calendaring when I’m not at my computer. I use my Moleskine pocket notebook. I don’t keep that many appointments — again, it’s the minimalist in me. I might have one per day, and often less. I don’t like to keep a full schedule, and I avoid meetings like the plague. I’ve developed a sort of judo technique to meetings. I do take meetings, but rarely. Anyway, you could use your cell phone or other mobile device to do calendaring on the go if you like.
Being hostage to your Internet Provider. This can also be a very real issue for some people. It hasn’t seemed to be an issue for me. However, things are looking better on this front. With Google Gears, many web apps are soon going to have an off-line mode, so even if you get disconnected, you can continue to do your work. Zoho Office apps just got that capability, I believe.
What’s the objection to using the space on your hard drive? None really, except for what I said near the beginning of the article: I use multiple computers, and I need to access the information from anywhere. Using online apps allows me to do that. Also, having my info online makes organization much easier (see discussion above about archive and search). There’s no need for a central organizational structure anymore, whether you’re using Google or Mac OSX.
But what if not everything I do can be done online? It’s true that many apps are not offered online, and also that most online apps do not have all the features of desktop apps. First, this is why I simplified my needs — I’ve learned that I don’t need all the features of desktop apps. Sure, MS Word has 27 million more features than Google Docs, and so does Excel, but I don’t use them, and for me, they just add to bloat and slowness. For others who need them, the online solution wouldn’t be ideal. Second, I do use desktop apps for certain things, like photo editing, as I mentioned above. But then I upload the file online, delete the copy on my hard drive, and don’t worry about it after that. Again, this might not work for everyone, but it works for me.

Final note: I should have had this in the original article, but here’s the key issue: if working online would be more complicated for you, don’t do it. For me, it has mean a simplification and minimalization of my computing life, and I really enjoy that minimalism. Others have more complicated needs, or have issues with privacy, backups, security or the quality of their connections. Those people shouldn’t use an online solution, as I do, because it would be more complicated for them. And that’s the final test — what is simpler and makes more sense for your situation?

See also:

Cyber Minimalist: How to Work (Almost) Completely Online

In the past year, I’ve decided to simplify my computing life and my work needs by trying to work, as much as possible, with online apps and online storage.

Enter online apps, and my newfound simplicity.

But there might be some who would benefit from online solution. Here are some reasons you’d store your files online and use online apps:

You use multiple computers. If you carry a laptop everywhere, then you don’t have the problem of transferring or syncing files. But if you have more than one computer, you might consider my solution.
Your needs are simple. If you use desktop software that cannot be replaced by online apps, my solution is probably not for you. You might still consider online storage. If you’re a writer, however, or you deal mostly with word processing apps, spreadsheets, and other common apps, you might be able to get away with what I do.
You do a lot of online work. If you’re a blogger, like I am, or some other type of web worker, and you meet the criteria above, online solutions would be perfect for you.

Word processing and spreadsheets. It wasn’t long ago when I did a little analysis of my work and realized that the majority of it was done with word processors such as MS Word and AbiWord, and spreadsheets such as Excel or Calc. I decided to try using Google Docs for these needs, and though it was a little off-putting at first, I’ve since learned to embrace the minimalism of Google Docs and Spreadsheets. They don’t have half the features of their Microsoft counterparts, but you know what? I don’t need those missing features. Formatting not as pretty? I’ve become all about the info, not the formatting. Printing not as pretty? I rarely print now. And sharing docs with others is so much easier now.
Blogging. Of course, almost every blogger uses an online app for publishing his blog. I use Wordpress, and it’s simple to use and powerful enough for my needs. I save a post, add a photo, and those things don’t need to be saved on my hard drive.
Photos. I’ve embraced Google’s Picasa, and uploaded all my photos onto my free Picasa account. Yes, I’m a Google freak, and others have problems trusting a company like Google, but I don’t.
Email. This is one of my most heavily used apps. While in my last job we were required to use Outlook, I’ve since been freed to use Gmail, and I’ll never go back. Boy is it so much nicer. And as I tend to clean out my Gmai every now and then, I doubt if I’ll ever come close to the storage limit. The nice thing is that as soon as I email a file to someone, I can delete it from my hard drive, as it’s now stored in Gmail.
Archive and search. This is one of the most beautiful reasons to use online apps: the simplicity of organization. While I used to have a structure of directories and subdirectories for the files on my hard drive (as nearly everyone does, I think), now I don’t worry about folders or even tagging. I archive, and then search when I need a file. That’s it. It works just as well in Gmail as Google Docs as Picasa as Wordpress. No need for filing. It took me awhile to get used to this method, but now I love it. Need to find a document I saved a few months ago? No need to root through folders to find it. Just search. It’s beautiful.
Desktop apps. I do use desktop apps, for some work. For example, AbiWord or DarkRoom for minimal word processing, Photoshop or Gimp for photo editing, AutoHotKey for keyboard shortcuts, some graphics programs, and some specialty apps for my day job. However, I usually use them for a single task, save the file, upload it or email it immediately, and then delete the file from my hard drive.
No hard drive organization. Again, as soon as I save a file my hard drive, I transfer it online (to Google Docs, Gmail, Picasa, Wordpress, etc.) and then delete it from the hard drive. This means that I no longer need to organize files on my hard drive. I still have my old files — I’ve been afraid to delete them, although I will probably do so within a couple of months. But no new files are kept on my hard drive.
Firefox. Of course, the desktop app I use the most is my browser. And for my money, that’s Firefox. (Opera, Safari, Camino and other browser fans will disagree, and that’s OK — this isn’t a debate about the best browser.) Since I do almost all of my work online, Firefox is just about always open, and one thing I love is the shortcuts that give me fast computing all day long. I have keyword bookmarks for every app and site I use often, so opening up a site or app is as simple as typing a couple of letters and pressing enter. Same thing for my common searches on Wikipedia, Flickr, Amazon, IMDB, and much more — they all have very fast keywords, so searches are easy. And Firefox’s extensions have helped me tremendously, including Greasemonkey, Google Toolbar, and more.
Offline work. There are times when I shut down Firefox and open a desktop app such as DarkRoom or AbiWord, just so I can work without the temptation of being connected. I find it peaceful to disconnect, and not have to worry about distractions. But when I’m done with that task, such as writing an article, I’ll save it into Google Docs and delete the original.
Calendar and to-dos. I use (surprise) GCal for my online calendar needs, and my to-dos have found a number of good online tools. (I’ve migrated between Backpack, Tracks, Vitalist, and others, depending on my mood. Right now, I’m using my Moleskine pocket notebook.) There are other online apps I use, most notable among them Google Reader.

What about backups? I don’t actually do backups for the most part. All the companies I use to store my information online backup the information themselves. However, even if there were a problem, I wouldn’t miss any of the information, really, except my blog. And I do backup my blog. However, if you wanted to backup your information, it wouldn’t be hard to do it yourself — you could use your hard drive or web storage in a different location, and just save new or modified files every day or once a week.
What about privacy? This is a real issue for some people, and I won’t deny it. However, I don’t really think Google employees (or whatever company I’m using) have time to read through everyone’s files, and even if they read mine, I don’t have anything secret in my documents. If that’s an issue for you, for whatever reason, online work would be more difficult. You could encrypt files — maybe only those that you really want to protect.
Capture and calendaring when I’m not at my computer. I use my Moleskine pocket notebook. I don’t keep that many appointments — again, it’s the minimalist in me. I might have one per day, and often less. I don’t like to keep a full schedule, and I avoid meetings like the plague. I’ve developed a sort of judo technique to meetings. I do take meetings, but rarely. Anyway, you could use your cell phone or other mobile device to do calendaring on the go if you like.
Being hostage to your Internet Provider. This can also be a very real issue for some people. It hasn’t seemed to be an issue for me. However, things are looking better on this front. With Google Gears, many web apps are soon going to have an off-line mode, so even if you get disconnected, you can continue to do your work. Zoho Office apps just got that capability, I believe.
What’s the objection to using the space on your hard drive? None really, except for what I said near the beginning of the article: I use multiple computers, and I need to access the information from anywhere. Using online apps allows me to do that. Also, having my info online makes organization much easier (see discussion above about archive and search). There’s no need for a central organizational structure anymore, whether you’re using Google or Mac OSX.
But what if not everything I do can be done online? It’s true that many apps are not offered online, and also that most online apps do not have all the features of desktop apps. First, this is why I simplified my needs — I’ve learned that I don’t need all the features of desktop apps. Sure, MS Word has 27 million more features than Google Docs, and so does Excel, but I don’t use them, and for me, they just add to bloat and slowness. For others who need them, the online solution wouldn’t be ideal. Second, I do use desktop apps for certain things, like photo editing, as I mentioned above. But then I upload the file online, delete the copy on my hard drive, and don’t worry about it after that. Again, this might not work for everyone, but it works for me.

See also:

Posted on 24 August 2007 in Simplicity, Technology |
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Comments (56)

Abel Says:

August 24th, 2007, 5:16 am

Thanks for sharing. I think your approach works even better if you have a team of people who work together but distance apart.

Kate Says:

August 24th, 2007, 5:50 am

I really dig the online workflow, but I have a couple of problems with it.

First, what do you use for capture and calendaring when you are not at your computer? Like, you are at the dentist and they want to make your next appointment to get a filling or whatever. Do you just make any old appointment, wait until you get to your computer to check for conflicts, and call them if you need to change it? What would be REALLY disco is if there were a PDA that would sync with google calendar, or a conduit/app that would make it happen (I know about plaxo but I found it unworkable), but it looks like we are moving toward devices with web based apps like iphone and nokia N95.

And second is just a problem specific to my workplace - they block gmail. I know, it sucks. It’s a high school and I guess they don’t want (the kids mostly) sending emails that they can’t track, so the only email allowed by the network is the school server email. Apparently there is no way to make an exception for teachers. I’ve asked.

Ivan Says:

August 24th, 2007, 5:51 am

Thank you for this insights! But what about backups? Do you trust google completely?
Greetings
Ivan

Matt Says:

August 24th, 2007, 5:54 am

Thanks for an interesting post on (almost) exclusively online computing. I am a fan of many of the online apps you use, and would love to make the switch. Unfortunately what limits me is slightly more sluggish and expensive internet access in my country (and probably a little bit of fear regarding the longevity of these services-see Google video as an example).
I have however achieved a similar result with a focus on Portable applications run off my memory stick, and saving whatever documents I can on that as well. The beauty of this approach is that (similar to working mostly online) I can be at ANY computer and have all my apps the way I like them. Big OS reinstalls are no longer such a hassel either, since I only need to reinstall a handful of applications.
See http://www.portableapps.com

Matt Says:

August 24th, 2007, 5:58 am

Sorry for the double post, but Kate’s comment had not yet appeared.
Kate, have a look at http://www.goosync.com. It’s a great synchronization service that works with most modern phones’ native calendaring systems. The free service allows synchronization with a single calendar, the premium with multiple calendars. Contact sync will soon be added as well.

Joker the Lurcher Says:

August 24th, 2007, 6:03 am

i’ve been reading your blog for a little while now and really love it. a lot of what you do i have been trying to do and your tips have given it more structure.

i use a mac at home and a pc at work with a (pc) laptop for when i’m roving around. i’ve found google docs brilliant for collaborative work with other people and for my own stuff. however my work won’t allow it through the network so i have asked them to set me up a virtual private network that i can access on my laptop. i use gmail for all my various e-mail accounts so stuff gets forwarded to one place. i use google calendar for organising and google reader for getting the huge amount of stuff i browse in one place. i use flickr for all my pix - i take loads!.

one thing i find really useful is foxmarks which sync all your firefox bookmarks on the web. if you are on a non-firefox machine (at work again!) you can still get into them from the foxmarks site.

and 2 tips for kate: i use my mobile phone to get into google calendar and gmail (they have apps for mobiles now so long as they can connect to the net). also if you get netvibes set up on your work machine you can somehow open gmail and stuff through it even when it is blocked by the network (at least you can on ours - hope our techies aren’t reading this!).

thanks again for a great blog leo!

Joker the Lurcher Says:

August 24th, 2007, 6:06 am

oh and also google notebook for little clips of stuff like your list!

kiwi Says:

August 24th, 2007, 6:10 am

great post, thanks. I work mostly like youdo, online.Would you make a post about the most important app for security (firewall, anti viruses) we should keep on our PC and/or Mac to keep them safe and light ? freeware would be great of course, but I would really like you advice / and your reader’s advice too !

kiwi Says:

August 24th, 2007, 6:13 am

oh, and for my bookmarks I use del.ici.ous which allows me to reach them wherever I am connected ! and the tagging system is great ..

Wolf Says:

August 24th, 2007, 6:58 am

I’m still not sold on living solely online. I am the last man standing who happens to like outlook. All of my mail, contacts calendar, notes & tasks are integrated into one app — and all of those allow drag & drop functionality that talk to my ppc. Secondly, the apps that replace Word & Excel are just not robust enough yet to do what I need them to do (embed a spreadsheet into another? I don’t think so.) Lastly, I don’t like the feeling of being at the mercy of the online app or an ISP.

MIchael Foord Says:

August 24th, 2007, 6:59 am

I have a hosting account with webfaction and store my files in a subversion repository. This means that I can get the latest versions wherever I have internet access and commit any changes back to the repository.

As an added bonus I can always revert to a previous version if I need to. I use the tortoisesvn Windows program to make working with subversion easier…

Ethan Poole Says:

August 24th, 2007, 7:31 am

I really do not understand why you would object to using the space on your hard drive? By using all of these online applications, all of a sudden all of your files are located across a wide-range of websites and services. There is no central organisation of your data.

It is also important to note that Mac OSX has better searching capabilities that Google in regards to data. It is much faster and well integrated into your computing environment.

If you want to just share your data in a central location between computers, it is more than easy to just purchase an online storage account.

Considering that primarily Google offers these online apps you talk about (all of which I have used), there are a lot of tasks that really are just not offered online yet. Video editing for one, the files are too large for any company to dive into just yet. Presentations and such, not a capability of Google Docs. Google Docs in itself is lacking in very simple capbilities for spreadsheets and word processing.

dbtodd Says:

August 24th, 2007, 7:35 am

I also like your post very much. It is a real struggle to manage files between work and home (should we be bringing so much work home anyway?). My first step was Del.icio.us which was a huge help. I manage my calendar on my Mac but sync to gCalendar with SpanningSync. I use gDocs for what I can, though files I must share with colleagues need to stay in Word. Still, getting closer.

@Kate. Jott is a service that may be handy. You call a central number and record a message to yourself of a contact. It is transcribed into text and emailed. I use this as a mobile capture device when the Moleskine is not available.

BTW Leo, I’m not sure Simplicity is the theme that comes through with the incredible detail in your posts. This is a little joke, not a complaint! I appreciate the thoroughness with which you explain your ideas. Just a warning to others, don’t read Gruber then come to read Leo. Start with Leo and a cup of coffee!!

Dean Says:

August 24th, 2007, 8:11 am

I use http://www.logmein.com to access my “work” PC (I work from home) with all my files on it from anywhere just using a web browser. It is secure and FREE! When I travel I leave my “work” PC on and take my laptop. I can access all of my files, email, etc. on my work PC from anywhere I am through a web browser. I do not need to synch files or move anything to my laptop. I only need an internet connection and a web browser. LogMeIn is a secure remote desktop application that allows you to remotely control a remote PC. Works great.

Mathies Says:

August 24th, 2007, 8:12 am

I wouldn’t mind putting most of my files online, but there’s one thing that makes me not do it: It’s all about security. Not only am I not allowed to put my work files anywhere else than the intranet, but even if I could put them where I want to, chances rise dramatically, that someone else uses those files as he wishes.
This might sound a bit paranoid, but there have been attacks around already either destroying content (see myspace) or stealing data.
Therefore I think it’s okay to put some notes and rather unmimportant stuff online, but confident and personal data should stay somewhere safe, I think.

That said I also think it’s relieving to have everything accessible in exactly one way without me worrying about synchronization.

moruku Says:

August 24th, 2007, 8:28 am

Nice stuff Leo, actually I don’t use any other wordprocessing/spreadsheet software other than Google Docs, it works really good since I both use a laptop at school, and a desktop at home. And also, I can access my documents on any computer with internet access.

Thanks for sharing though, will check the other apps out at some point too.

Nadya Says:

August 24th, 2007, 8:33 am

A year ago, when I lived in a big city, I was almost forgetting the names for offline applications, heavily using gmail, firefox, google docs, online dictionaries and emule.

Things changed dramatically when I moved to a tiny little village lost in mountains. There’s no ADSL here! No cable! No internet! And no hope that one day the situation improves. Italy is not really internetized yet, e.g. you can’t update twitter via text messages (SMS), GPRS costs a fortune, so no internet on-the-go either, very few places offer wifi access etc.

Our desperate solution: we installed a satellite dish (www.digiweb.ie). And it works. But not only it is VERY expensive (120 euro/month), the traffic is limited: 2 Gb of download, 256 Mb of upload monthly. Which means: no pictures, no big files, no program upgrade, no online storage etc.

SavingWithMe Says:

August 24th, 2007, 8:57 am

Web 2.0 apps are pushing the desktop online more each year. I have transferred a majority of my computing online as well. Spreadsheets, calendars, email, word processing are all more collaborative and cheaper online. I still use Quicken and am waiting for a killer personal finance app to come online. I have tried a few of the current options but have not found anything that really fit yet.

David Says:

August 24th, 2007, 9:18 am

Hi Leo,
have you tried remember the milk for your to-dos? I have been using it for quite a while now and really like it. I like that it integrates well with the google apps and uses google gears as well for offline access.

JNL Says:

August 24th, 2007, 9:37 am

I’ve been using Zoho’s suite of online office products for the last month or so and I like them a lot (although I am also a fan of Google Docs, Zoho Writer fits in with my more visual style of working.

AND they just introduced offline file support (for now it’s read-only, but it will be read-write any day now). They use Google Gears to do it - link up with your online files, take the ones you want offline, unplug and edit away. You can sync back up when you’re back online.

I also enjoy their “PowerPoint”-esque slide show maker for sharing quick ideas with co-workers and friends.

I can’t wait until their Zoho Mail app is released out of beta - it looks like it will incoporate a lot of the things I like about Outlook, including calendaring and reminders, except online and a bit more friendly.

I’ve been a big Google fan from day one, and I absolutely love doing my writing online (it’s very liberating to NOT have a 2 GB My Documents folder). I think Zoho is going to give them a run for their money, though.

Great post. Great site. Keep ‘em coming!

Brent Says:

August 24th, 2007, 10:41 am

for a while I bounced back and forth between machines, The problem is that I’m a software developer. At work I would have to use some very specific apps that are PC based. At home I sometimes take work, but sometimes I do web development, graphics work, and use it as a media machine. I’ve always had a problem with the syncing between computers with music for listening, calendars, email apps, source code, and graphics. I’ve migrated to Gmail, GCal, and iGoogle, and a host of other things to simplify, but When I get back to the big things. I can’t even find a memory stick that would fit it all. I really want to avoid having a system for memory sticks too. That transfer rate on Gigabytes is just way too long. Right now I’m just moving files a time when I need to sync them… Sometimes that causes a problem when I forget something.

Jean-Francois Arseneault Says:

August 24th, 2007, 10:49 am

Being a professional in the IT field, I unfortunately can’t subscribe to the fact that most things can now be done online. It may work if you’re a student or use computers for minimal things (email, internet, light tasks), but the math doesn’t work once you use it for much more complex tasks and workflows.

I do web development, Lotus Notes programming, use VMware images (multi-gigabites), have over 13,000 hi-res pictures in iPhoto (take that, Picassa/Flickr), hundreds of PDF files for documentation. Some video editing for the family. I clean my drives more often than the average (I’m not a ‘pack-rat’), and still, I use over 120Gb on my Mac, and have 2x 100Gb drives in my laptop. And a few external Firewire drives for good measure.

Don’t get me wrong, I do use the Google apps, and they’re slick, but some of my files still don’t import well, and even though I’ve got a 10Mbps pipe to the internet, I still find the online experience sluggish at times, even on Google apps.

And as another reader said, well, not sure my clients or employer would want confidential data to be on the Google plex. As always, the rule of ‘use what makes sense’ applies.

BUT, I still read your blog all the time, and pick and choose ‘what makes sense’ for me :)

Karen Says:

August 24th, 2007, 10:51 am

Zoho looks seriously cool, I’m going to try it out. The Google Docs spreadsheet is not quite there yet, surprising since my spreadsheet requirements are so minimal these days, so I’ll see how the Zoho one works.

90% of what I do is writing, though, and Google Docs is working superbly for that. For the past couple of years I’ve been doing all my writing in a text editor (NoteTab Pro) and only importing it into Word to format for printing, so making the change was easy enough — and the ability to not have to synch 3 or 4 different copies of one file, and remember where said file is in the file structure of different computers, is making my life a lot easier. Agreed, I don’t have a job that requires me to work with video or graphics, and it’s also not very schedule-based; I work around tasks and deadlines rather than appointments, and I don’t need a huge contact list. I can see where there is still a strong need for local applications to handle those kind of things, but still every little bit helps as far as moving some of it online.

William Mize Says:

August 24th, 2007, 10:57 am

I just gotta say that it’s a real tribute to a blog and the community it fosters when you can learn just as much from the comments as you can from the original post.

Much thanks to everyone who comments, I appreciate it.
And well done to Leo, as always.

Ian Says:

August 24th, 2007, 11:46 am

These are great tips. Can you do a post on password management?

Brian Tanaka Says:

August 24th, 2007, 12:44 pm

I love #7 (No hard drive organization.) Maintaining an organized hard drive can eat up a fair amount of time and energy over the long haul. However, even if you do the lion’s share of your work locally, there are ways to minimize organizational overhead. I’ve been perfecting a technique to minimize hard drive organizing that I’ll describe in detail on DevYou soon. Thanks for another great article, Leo.

quench Says:

August 24th, 2007, 13:35 pm

I’ve been tempted by this, but have yet to see anyone really address my biggest issue with it: PRIVACY. And please don’t say, like I’ve heard so many say with alarming pleasure, “get used to it, you have no privacy any more”. Or, “as long as you’re not doing anything you shouldn’t be doing, don’t worry”. I’m not at ALL worried about getting in trouble for anything. What I’m worried about is actually what almost no one seems to think is valuable: privacy. (On a side note, it’s interesting how few people seemed moved by all the NYC taxi drivers who have been protesting the installation of GPS in their cars.) Oh and that reminds me of another worry - information gathered today can often be used in unimaginable ways tomorrow, and it’s almost impossible to turn the tide back by then.

Metroknow Says:

August 24th, 2007, 14:23 pm

I’m a big fan of Backpack (http://www.backpackit.com/) and the whole 37 Signals approach to software, which is similar to the slimmed down approach Google uses with Google Apps. Much better space to organize thoughts that I want to purge from my mind but save for later. And the fact that I can access them (or share them with others) from any Internet connection point really simplifies things for me.

For secure online storage I like Xdrive (http://www.xdrive.com/index.jsp).

Mikey Says:

August 24th, 2007, 16:17 pm

All my work on the web would be my goal but that would be unreasonable for my work situation. All my personal files are in Google Docs and I love it. I am a Google addict using Gmail, Calendar (synced to my Outlook through Plaxo) and Reader. Remember the Milk is used for keeping track of what I am doing and not doing.

Windows at work and Ubuntu at home. I use an 8 gig USB drive and sync all my work files to it. It also has portable Firefox and Open Office installed so I can work anywhere.

Keep up the great work.

Mashedpotatoes Says:

August 24th, 2007, 16:30 pm

Great post!

I use the same process, I use all of my daily spreadsheets, calendar, basic todo lists and email exclusively via google and the web interface. I’m smitten!

Two things I would like to add that would make things even more easy for synchronization, one of which you have already heard of in the replies:

Foxmarks

An incredibly awesome bookmark synchronizer extension for Firefox, works literally in realtime once you configure it. If you are lucky enough to use Firefox at work and home, this is the best. I have an XP system at home and work and also Firefox running on Unbuntu Linux on a seperate PC, all three share Foxmarks and it works awesome!

GMail Drive

This installs a drive icon in your My Computer drive list. What it does is connects and logs on to your gmail account and treats the 3gb’s of web storage as a drive on your computer, you can drag and drop files to it and it will store them in your gmail account. This is a very quick and easy storage solution for any type of files without the need to create an email to yourself and attach files every time you need some basic web storage.

Thanks again for the post!

Barry Says:

August 24th, 2007, 16:43 pm

I like your style, but I have to disagree with online file storage for two reasons:
1. Privacy. quench already brought this up. I value my privacy. I encrypt my email with GnuPG when I can. I don’t want my files freely accessible to others.
2. I don’t trust the internet to serve me when I need it. Things get delayed, servers go down. I want a local copy so I don’t have to wait.

I have a tip of my own: I have two computers at home, one for gaming and fun stuff, one for business and more serious matters. The two don’t mix. Each computer has a state of mind attached to it. I never get distracted by “fun” when I’m on my laptop, and I never worry about work when I’m on my tower.

Leo Says:

August 24th, 2007, 16:58 pm

Great comments, everyone! I’m really enjoying all the tips people are sharing, and some of you have brought up some excellent questions and issues.

To address some of them, I updated the post with my answers. As I said in the update, I did that in the post instead of in the comments because they’re excellent questions, and I was afraid many people wouldn’t read the answers to them in the comments. I hope that’s OK. So anyway, read the update, let me know if you have other questions/issues.

The final note I added is the key: this doesn’t work for everyone. It works for me, because it simplifies my life. If it would be more complicated for you, or it doesn’t make sense for your situation, you shouldn’t give it a try.

Thanks for the great comments, everyone!

Dave P Says:

August 24th, 2007, 18:03 pm

Quick question: I’ve got my entire cd collection on my home PC - any ideas on how to get this online? It’s larger than my iPod, and the issue isn’t really access, but storage.

Leo, what do you do?

quench Says:

August 24th, 2007, 18:41 pm

Thanks for all your answers in the update, Leo.
As an aside, I’m not so interested in encrypting files, because, as I said, there’s nothing I want to hide or protect. But that doesn’t mean I want the info available to others without my knowledge. And I agree with you, Google and other employees don’t have the time to read my stuff (which would bore them to death, anyway). What I’m more concerned about is, I guess, the more conceptual issue of privacy itself. Hard to explain…
Oh, and also, the fact that technology will be developed to crunch the data in ways that we can’t even imagine yet - and by then, it won’t be possible to go back.

erin Says:

August 24th, 2007, 19:52 pm

Hiya Leo,
My life is pretty much online and, up until a week ago I felt the same way as you regarding privacy (who could POSSIBLY care about what I do — I’ve got nothing to hide!)…but then I was directed from a blog (I can’t remember which one now, rats) to http://googlonymous.com and I watched the little video they have on the front (and only) page. HO-LY COW. It may not convince you to change your ways, but you’ll absolutely gain some worthwhile knowledge regarding just how your information is used, even when you think it isn’t.

Guillermo Says:

August 25th, 2007, 6:24 am

Dave P, to upload and then have a backup of all your music
online + be able to listen to it from wherever you are through
a browser you can use.
http://www.mp3tunes.com/
“unlimited space for your music…free”
this one is owned by the guy that originally made mp3.com

you can also look into
http://www.anywhere.fm

good luck,
-guillermo

tanya Says:

August 28th, 2007, 9:20 am

is there anywhere i could store my itunes online?! right now all of my music is stored on my hard drive, but being the minimalist that i am, would rather do without the hard drive.

Ralf Says:

August 28th, 2007, 14:41 pm

Hosted access to documents and applications is for sure convenient when you would like to access documents from different computers. I tried over time several alternatives. Microsoft for example offers different solutions to synch folders and documents between different PCs: Groove 2007, foldershare.com or the build-in Messenger folder synchronisation. All of them have some drawbacks and nothing is easier to setup than Google Docs. But there is one fundamental issue with hosted documents one has to be aware of: You can never be sure that anything ever will be deleted from those servers (online proof here: http://www.line-of-reasoning.com/issues/privacy-issue-google-docs-seems-to-not-delete-but-only-hide-documents-when-the-trash-is-emptied/ ).
I have nothing to hide, so why should I care? Because something that I put into the trash is there for a reason. The content of the “to be deleted” document is maybe wrong, irrelevant or outdated. As a user I want to be sure it is gone when I request its deletion. With today’s online services you can not be sure. This is maybe no show stopper but as the market for windows file shredder solutions is showing there is a need for deletion. From my perspective it is our responsibility as users to not only happily accept whatever nice feature set is offered to us for “free”. We have to let the service providers know what we are expecting as minimal SLA. And I have a simple requirement: I do not want that the user interface of my preferred online application is not telling me the full truth.

Jim Says:

August 28th, 2007, 19:23 pm

The picture in the heading of the article; what software is that from? I’m just curious.

Thanks.

Alex Says:

August 28th, 2007, 21:23 pm

Working online makes you feel comfortable unlike office it also avoid daily traveling. This article applies to most of us.

Alex
http://www.egold-directory.com

Leo Says:

August 29th, 2007, 7:44 am

@Jim: That’s Google Docs. :)

Paul Says:

August 29th, 2007, 10:31 am

I love online apps and storage and try to make it the priority over storing something on a local drive. The main benefit for me is the ease of access and keeping my home PC clean and empty. If I ever have a computer problem, then replacing it is not a big concern as the new one will be ready to fly out of the box. Also my PC is fast since it is not loaded down with bloat.

Some things I use are:
GoogleApps
Portableapps.com for USB Key
fastmail.fm for Email
witopia.net for VPN
TrueCrypt.com for encryption
Facebook
MSN messenger

Gene Says:

August 30th, 2007, 3:55 am

Hi,

I like the article and I also use online tools for much of my work. Gmail and the other G applications are a big part of my toolbox.

I travel around the world and no matter where I am if there is internet connectivity I can work.

Sarah Stokely Says:

September 4th, 2007, 2:48 am

Hi,
As a tech journalist and blogger, I found this article quite thought provoking. The minimalism certainly appeals, as does the simplification if you’re working on multiple computers. No backups would be nice too. :)
I linked to your article. :)

barak Says:

September 8th, 2007, 5:33 am

another very cool thing you can skip your harddrive for… your music. check out http://www.mediamaster.com zip all your itunes songs up to their servers (right now they’re offering unlimited free hosting) and then you can listen to your songs anywhere, anytime, any machine. same idea/benefits you’ve described above.. but now with a soundtrack!

Michel Says:

September 19th, 2007, 11:17 am

I like the idea of having docs outside your main HD. But I accomplish that with pendrives. Quick access to your data. Mobility. Less privacy issues. No dependency on internet connection.
The only problem is that you need to backup data.

subcorpus Says:

September 27th, 2007, 13:43 pm

good article …
i’ve seen other people trying to use google docs and stuff …
but most of them just return to desktop progs …
am not saying online progs r bad …
am saying we r so used to bloated slow programs …
the minimals may not be suffcient for us …
just a thought …

Rebecca Says:

October 8th, 2007, 7:39 am

Hello Leo! Thank you very much for this post. I agree with you that it’s recommendable to store your documents online, not only because it saves space in your hard disk, but also (and most importantly) because it allows you to have your files at your disposal no matter where you go, as long as every computer you find has internet access (this doesn’t happen always, but most of the times).
However, what you said about making backups has troubled me a little. I also have a blog, I’ve been posting in it for more than a year now, and I wouldn’t like to lose my past posts. But as I’m an unskilled Blogger user, I don’t know how to make backups of my blog in Blogger. Any advice? Thank you in advance!!

Rebecca Says:

October 8th, 2007, 7:41 am

Leo Says:

October 8th, 2007, 19:46 pm

Hi Rebecca: Backing up blogger sites isn’t hard … I think it involves saving the RSS feed to your computer. In any case, look it up on the Blogger.com help section … I know I read it there before. Hope that helps!

Rebecca Says:

October 9th, 2007, 2:54 am

Thank you very much, Leo! I’ll have a look at Blogger.com. I’m afraid I can’t put off learning about RSS feeds any more. I hope one day you can offer us some tips on “blogging for beginners simply and without trauma”. Take care!

Daniel Says:

October 16th, 2007, 20:59 pm

An additional resource for the section “Calendar and to-dos” is Remember The Milk and it works with Google as a separate calendar.

William Says:

November 19th, 2007, 14:10 pm

Good article but you should also mention remote access software which allows you to access your computer from another PC/laptop. I don’t like the idea of hosting my files online, especially anything with confidential information, so I’d rather be able to just access my computer from wherever I am. I’ve been using I’m InTouch , http://www.imintouch.net, with lots of success for a while.

William Says:

November 19th, 2007, 14:11 pm

oops, sorry the link should be http://www.imintouch.net

Alanna Says:

February 5th, 2008, 12:08 pm

I lost my hard drive last spring — and lost something like 45 days worth of data since my external hard drive (which I was backing up to at the end of every day) had filled up. Ever since, I use Mozy to back up every single day.

Ian Mayman Says:

February 13th, 2008, 1:42 am

As a self-employed person, I think it’s important to point out there are many online applications available now for finance and productivity such as Expensr, Freshbooks, Cashboard, Xpenser, Zero, Invotrack and many more. These help track invoices and manage cashflow so that the accounts are almost all done automatically and backed up remotely.

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