Web 2.0 drinking the Kool-Aid from my personal cloud

I've heard the term Web 2.0 and "Cloud Computing" buzzwords so many times, but I was stuck in my own niche of the computer world and was not on the cutting edge of technology. I avoided myspace.com and facebook.com like the plague thinking they were time wasting fads that only college kids did with their volumes of free time. Then I remembered what I would think of adults that said that to meet when I was 500% more productive then them using the "new" technologies, so I embraced Web 2.0 and my love for technology kicked in. I'm hooked.

First, I would like to say my mantra about technology is simple, "it has to improve your life and not make it more complex. If it is faster and more efficient to do it the old way, then do it the old way." An example of this is my little black notebook I write small notes in all the time. It's much faster to use the black notebook then boot up a computer or try to thumb type something into a mobile device. A great example of an application that could improve your life was a bill pay service www.paytrust.com I belonged to starting in college. All your bills would be sent to www.paytrust.com, they would scan it, payment rules could be set, and then they would pay the bills for you via EFT or by check. The fee per month was about equal to the stamp cost of writing the bills, but unfortunately most billers today deliver e-bills and take EFT, so the service is no longer relevant. For over 5 years, no-one could match it.

What is Web 2.0 vs 1.0? The basic difference is that Web 1.0 is static and you "pull" information from a website, whereas with Web 2.0 you interact with the website to create and collaborate the content. Great examples of this are facebook.com, myspace.com, or even match.com. All these applications are delivered through your browser and you the user create the content, not the website developers. Think about it, you logon to facebook.com to read about your friends and what they post, not any facebook.com content.

What is cloud computing? The basic concept is to get away from thinking of computers as hardware or physical machines, but think more abstract terms where you need a certain amount of speed, memory, or disk space to run an application. That computing "horse power" could be anywhere and made up of any kind of hardware, but essential providing computer resources as a service. Why would you want that? Don't you hate having to upgrade your computer every couple of years because it is slow or doesn't run the latest software well? Don't you hate having to upgrade software all the time? Well since the cloud is abstract, it can expand dynamically to meet your needs instead of you having to upgraded hardware all the time. The cloud expands to you, not you conforming to your slow out-dated hardware. Finally, the cloud doesn't reside with you, but you can access it from anywhere; meaning you don't have to be confined to your desk or even your computer to access your information on the cloud.

So why move to Web 2.0 and the cloud? Two reasons information mobility and less computer maintenance. In the last year I moved ever application that I use personally to Web 2.0 on a cloud infrastructure. I don't have to be infront of my computer to access my information. Since I'm pulling the information from the cloud and not a specific computer my information is always in sync with all my computer or mobile devices. For example I can update my facebook.com status on my mac, view it on my work pc, and then update again on my iPhone and all views will be in sync with each other. I no longer have to manage complex synchronization software to keep all my information synced; it just happens. If I buy a new computer or view facebook.com at kiosk in the airport, no software to install and everything is update. No worries about backing your data or upgrading software to the latest revision. Web 2.0 application live in the cloud which is managed by you, but by the people that develop the software. With Web 2.0 my information is completely portable, so like my information, I can now be anywhere. My office can be Philadelphia, any park, any beach, any countries, and the only constraint is your imagination. Finally, you can spend your time using and applications anywhere instead of computer maintenance in your home office.

1. Virtual Filing Cabinet with iDisk on mobileme.com
2. Money Management with Mint.com
3. Note taking with evernote.com
4. Personal training and diet with livestrong.com
5. Task management rememberthemilk.com
6. Social networking facebook.com
7. Blogging with blogger.com
8. Website with mobileme.com

The next couple of days I'll spend time explaining each application and why I picked them. Until then "Live the dream."