Nicholas Carr: The Big Switch

[SFG75]

I checked this book out from the library and it proved to be quite an interesting read. In it, Carr argues that in the future, we will all have hand held devices and that our PCs, software, and hardware that goes with them, will be worthless as they are replaced by free software and material from centrally located facilities. Both google and microsoft are in the process of constructing giant buildings that will house super computers that will make it all happen. Carr likens the coming "switch" to when electric power was for the most part, driven by thousands of smaller stations, only to be replaced by larger facilities once the technology became available to move the power across great distances. If you like Alvin Toffler, you'll love this book.

Oh yeah, don't go into IT if you are young. Program designers and IT personnel will no longer be necessary as companies and governments will no longer need to expend large sums of money for PCs and upkeep. I guess we will all sell insurance to each other or something.

The Big Switch

 

[Hugh]

Someone told me that Microsoft has a free office suite that can be used online. He said it was called Virtual Office, but I don't see anything about it being a free online version. Has anyone heard of such a thing?

I use Microsoft Works version 3.0. I don't want to say just how old it is, but the word processor does not recognize "internet" as a correctly spelled word.

 

[SFG75]

I had no idea it existed, but under google "apps," you can get a program that is just like word, but it isn't by Bill Gates. You can also find spreadsheets and other things. This is radically different as these programs come from one centrally located place, not from a CD you download onto your hard drive. The google facility is known as The Dalles, Microsoft built their 100 miles away in a nearby area in Oregon.