I found this article with its list of SaaS applications very interesting. It made me think about how much information (my own included) is now stored 'in the ether'. Or rather, in 'the cloud'. From the article:
A piece of software that runs in your web browser and which stores your data (such as emails or photos) on the Internet is commonly referred to as Software As A Service (SaaS) or cloud-based computing – two buzz words which companies like SalesForce.com and Google use as much as they can to communicate the idea that there’s a paradigm shift taking place in the way software is built and used.
This shift seems to have occurred without most of us even realizing what's been going on (well, me at least!). On many levels I like it, particularly the ease of access from anywhere (with no more digging through many and varied piles of STUFF). I worry that if the computer dies I'll lose all my files, so recently I've been auto-backing up with a service called IDrive. Love anything that's 'auto' - I don't have to tax my poor overstuffed memory with another 'thing to do'! Anyway, IDrive is another example of 'the cloud' in action. But I do feel concerned that if we upload our lives, we'll lose the joy of face-to-face contact. I always feel a sense of disquiet when I see people out and about with friends or loved ones, spending their time with noses glued to screens. My own experience is that the web is a massive time drain; the only way to go for me is setting firm time limits for computer use and spend more time working with my hands. And so, adieu!
