This is kind of a big deal

Microsoft Office is a cash cow.  It is amazing how much people fear alternatives to a program that is mature, almost mundane, and so familiar.  The idea of abandoning MS Office for OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Google Docs or any another solution is virtually unthinkable to the masses.

I understand that there are many that have tried and tested methods of doing things, particularly with data and Excel.  Yes, re-engineering some data exchanges and analysis would be a troublesome task.  So, I agree that alternatives are not applicable to all.

Yet, for many, dropping MS Office is a possibility... and one that I think everyone should consider.

Today I read about the new Google Chrome extension that allows Office docs to be viewed in a browser.  http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57581475-93/new-chrome-extension-can-open-office-docs/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title

What does this mean?  Well, what it signifies to me is that Google has a commitment to Office alternatives, i.e. Microsoft will eventually lose Office market share in a big way.  I also take it to mean that Google Docs/Drive has MS Office in its cross-hairs.

In the future, the ubiquitous "Office" software will no longer be an installed application and $200 license fee paid to M$.  Cloud "Office" will dominate.  Yes, Microsoft's reduced price Home & Student Office allowing multiple installs was a welcome gesture.  But, Microsoft should be even more proactive and lower their price in order to keep their business customers happy.  Though, I doubt that will happen.

The downside for Microsoft when people jump ship is that those same people will realize that they  don't really need Microsoft at all.

....just as unthinkable as not needing Office.

It's been a while... Sync, sync'ing, and the cloud - BTSync, finally what I'm looking for

It has bee a while since I've posted on this blog, and I guess that is because I've been busy and distracted with other endeavors.

Well, the task of keeping data in sync across computers/devices has been a challenge that I find myself investigating better solutions every so often.  From Dropbox to Cubby to Carbonite to SugarSync to home grown solutions or even a combo... nothing accomplished what I wanted.  Maybe Cubby, until they eliminated the DirectSync feature from the beta/trial.

Hence, my search continued.  I was excited when I read BitTorrent was going to release a private P2P sync client.  I signed up for the alpha, and I just installed and tested sync between my work PC and home Mac.  500mb of videos (including the Harlem Shake) from this past weekend's Coachella music festival sync'd without issue.

Configuring folders and sync is simple.  I hope BTSync finds a place/way to establish itself and become an indispensable open source tool.  I'm really amazed that OS vendors have not integrated sync technology successfully.  People do use the cloud, sure.  But, everyone expects to have their data when and where they want it and for free/low cost.  Why pay a cloud vendor for storage and bandwidth when you've already paid for it for your home computer?

Thumbs up for the BTSync alpha release so far.