Up, Up to the Cloud…

Cloud computing. Save it to the cloud. Cloud storage. Download  from the cloud. These are terms you might be hearing often lately, but what do they mean?

To understand the cloud, we need to look at how computing has changed in the last few years. Five years ago the software applications you installed on your computer came on CD discs. Today when you buy new software it will most likely be purchased online and downloaded directly to your computer from the internet, or as it is more commonly referred to, the web. When your computer operating system is updated, it happens automatically. The updates are downloaded from the web and installed, sometimes without your even being aware it is occurring. If you take many digital photos, you may upload them to Flickr, Kodak Gallery, Picasa Web Albums, or any of the many other photo sharing websites for storage and sharing with friends and family. If you use Facebook, or any of other social media websites, your posts are stored on remote servers for sharing.

What does all this have to do with cloud computing? The term cloud is being used as a metaphor for the web, and the many thousands of servers that make it work. In 2012 computer use revolves around the web, and cloud computing is the delivery of computing services via the web. When you save data to the cloud, it is saved on a remote server and can be retrieved from any device that is connected to the web. 

I have written in earlier columns that I use an Apple notebook computer, iPad, and iPhone. My husband also has an iPhone and iPad, as well as a Windows laptop, and I can use the cloud to transfer data between all of these devices, wherever we happen to be. If my daughter-in-law posts new photos of our granddaughters on her Facebook page, I can download them to one of my devices, then distribute the photos to all our other devices using cloud service, such as Dropbox. 

Dropbox is an web-based service that allow users to upload files, store them on a remote server, and access them from any computing device. The service is free for the first 2 GB of storage — which works fine for me — with additional storage available for a modest fee. To use Dropbox you download and install a free application on your computer, tablet, and/or smartphone. Then all you have to do to share files between devices is drag and drop them on the Dropbox application. When you open Dropbox on another device, the file will be visible and ready to save.

I save the photos of our granddaughters to the Photo app on our iPhones and iPads. On my husbands PC I save the photos to the Windows Pictures folder for use as screen savers and desktop backgrounds.

Dropbox is only one of many Cloud services available, and next week I will write about some other Cloud alternatives.

Is a tablet for you…

For the past two weeks the subject of OnMouseClick has been my iPad and its many uses.  I realized that I forgot two valuable iPad options — one is watching videos, the other is its photo storage ability. My iPad works great with both You Tube videos and Netflix. We subscribe to Netflix, and with the Netflix app, we can watch movies and television shows right on our iPads. I also use my iPad as a photo album. Ever since I received my iPhone in June of 2009, I have tried to keep up-to-date family photos on the phone. Since I often have my iPhone with me, I also have the photos with me. Now that I have an iPad, I also have an easily portable, extensive photo album. In addition to family photos, I also plan to set up my photographic portfolio on my iPad.

Today, I am going to finish writing my series of articles on tablet computers, covering some things to consider if you are thinking about buying one. The other night we were having dinner with friends, and I brought along my iPad to show off the most recent photos of our granddaughters. My friends were very impressed with the iPad (and our beautiful granddaughters as well), and they both agreed they each wanted one. Which got me thinking – while it is a very impressive, versatile device, it isn't for everyone.

Tablet devices work by touch screen. To operate the device you use your fingers to select icons and move objects around the screen. When you need to enter information, an on screen keyboard appears. Using a touch screen can be a lot of fun, but does take some getting used to — and may be more trouble than it is worth for some people. Not only do you need to adjust to the touch screen technology, but each tablet uses finger swipes, known as multitasking gestures, in different ways. For multitasking gestures on my iPad, I use one finger to make selections, two fingers to move from one photograph to the next, and four or five fingers to switch between apps. To reduce or magnify what is on the screen, you place your thumb and forefinger on the screen and pinch them together (reduce) or move them apart (magnify).

Another thing to remember is the size of the screen. The most common screen size in tablet computers is 10-inches, such as the Apple iPad, and 7-inches like the Amazon Kindle Fire. Understanding screen size can be confusing, because measurements are made on the diagonal, and for every inch there is an increase in total screen size. Thus, a 7-inch screen has half the actual surface area of a 10-inch screen. EIther way, the screen is much smaller than the one on desktop, and even laptop, computers.

I have a friend who does a fair amount of traveling, and she just bought herself an iPad. She basically uses a computer for email and the internet, and decided that a lightweight iPad would be the perfect device for her travels. However, this same friend has a low frustration level when it comes to technology, and I have horrified visions of her chucking the iPad out the window when she cannot get it to do what she wants.

If you decide to buy a tablet, take a trip over to Best Buy, or one of the Apple Stores, and take a test drive before you buy. Spend some time getting the feel of using a touch screen and learning how to use multitasking gestures. 

What my iPad can do…

**A caveat about iPads, and tablet computers in general. Apple's iPad is by far the most popular of the new breed of tablet computers, but it is by no means the only tablet on the market. I am writing about the iPad, because that is what I use. Also, in this column I will be referring to APPS, which are small software applications designed for use on smart phones and tablet computers.**

Today, as I prepared to write this column, I received the March issue of MACWORLD magazine, and coincidentally this month's lead article is "iPad at Work: Is the iPad Ready to Replace your Laptop?" The magazine answers that the iPad is not quite ready to replace the laptop, but it comes pretty close. 

As I have written before, I have an Amazon Kindle eReader, which is an exceptional device for reading books that do not have a lot of graphics. The Kindle is small, lightweight, and the screen can be read in the brightest sunlight. For other types of reading the iPad is far superior. Last year I subscribed to the New York Times on my Kindle, and a new issue was downloaded each morning. Now, with the New York Times app installed on my iPad, news stories are updated several times a day. Magazines that are available for the iPad are interactive, often including video content as well as text and images.

Every year when we pack out RV for the winter months, I fill an entire cabinet with reference books on digital imaging, web design and book art. I am looking forward to replacing many of these book with iPad versions — literally putting the reference material at my fingertips and freeing up some much needed storage space.

I mentioned in last week's column that I started a recipe file on my laptop using the database program BENTO. In addition to the computer version of BENTO (it is an Macintosh only product) there is an app version for both the iPad & iPhone, with files synchronizing across devices. When I first set up the database on my laptop, I would move my laptop to the kitchen table when I wanted to use a recipe. Now  I have my recipes files on the iPad, which it is much more convenient and takes up less space. I also don't have to worry about touching my laptop keyboard with messy fingers. If I get my iPad touchscreen dirty, I just wipe it clean. 

I also use Bento to keep track of our RV travels. I make a record of every campground and service station we visit, with rating information that we use when we pass that way again. Having copies of the database on both my iPad and iPhone makes it very easy to search for the appropriate records while traveling.

I keep a spreadsheet on my laptop for our medical records. The spreadsheet software is another Macintosh only program, NUMBERS (EXCEL compatible), with an iPad app version. With the spreadsheet on my iPad it is much easier to keep track of doctors appointments and prescription purchases. I am writing this column on the iPad, using the app version of PAGES, the APPLE word processor I use on my MacBook (Microsoft Word compatible), and a wireless keyboard that makes typing on the iPad much easier than using the on-screen keyboard.

Of course, I use the iPad for email, web surfing, weather forecasting, and game playing. Sudoko, solitaire, backgammon, and Angry Birds are fun to play on the iPad, and I have a large selection of learning games for our almost three-year-old granddaughter. I highly recommend ANOTHER MONSTER AT THE END OF THE BOOK, and interactive games featuring ELMO and GROVER from Sesame Street. Brianna loves them and her increasing understanding of the iPad touch screen is very exciting to watch.

I really, really like my iPad…

First, an apology for once again putting off writing a column about video chats. We just returned from a six week visit with our son's family in Arizona, and since we saw our granddaughters in person everyday, there was no reason for video chats. We miss them terribly, and I will arrange a video chat soon — after which my skills will be refreshed and I will be ready to write a column on the subject.

For this week's topic, I want to discuss our families tablet computing history. For Christmas 2009 Santa brought me an Amazon Kindle. As I have written in previous columns, I love the Kindle and it is a boon to a voracious reader like me living in a motor home for half the year.  I am always reading a book, sometimes more than one at a time, and, being able to keep a book collection on the Kindle is a great space saver. I also subscribe to the New York Times on the Kindle, which provided my breakfast table reading material. When I first got the Kindle, I thought that I might also be able to use it for my recipe files — and while it is possible ( I gave it a valiant effort), it was not a good solution for my electronic recipe file. 

In 2010 Santa brought my husband Eddie an Apple iPad. He uses it to visit web sites , read newspapers, magazines, books, and videos. He reads the New York Times on his iPad, but because we are subscribers of the print edition of the paper at home in New York, the iPad version is free — more on that point later. I certainly liked the iPad, but I had my Kindle and was very content. Except, I did think that the iPad would work well in the kitchen. I had already begun to create a database of favorite recipes on my Apple laptop, and since there is an iPad version of the database software I use (BENTO, more on that in a future column), it occurred to me that using an iPad for recipes would work even better. 

Eddie OK'd my putting Bento, and my recipes, on his iPad, and it worked out well, except of course if Eddie was already using his device. Then, this fall when we arrived at TR I decided not to subscribe to the New York TImes on my Kindle. The price had gone up, from $15 to $20 a month, and it seemed unfair that as print subscribers we could download the iPad version for free, but had to pay for the Kindle version. So, at breakfast, while Eddie was reading the St. Petersburg Times (the name hadn't changed to the Tampa TImes yet), I would read the New York Times on his iPad until he was ready for it.

The more I used the iPad, the more I appreciated the elegance of the device, and thought that it would be really nice to have one of my own. And, much to my delight and surprise, Santa brought me an iPad2 this Christmas. Now, I not only get to read the New York Times and have my recipe database to use whenever I need it, I also use it for word processing (I am typing on it right now!), spreadsheets, and a wide variety of other purposes. I really, really, like my iPad.

Next week I'll give you an in depth look at how I use my iPad, and how it integrates with my Mac Laptop and iPhone.