May 20

In the Cloud – Google vs. Dropbox

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I love Competition!

Competition is the reason why we have so many selections to choose from, and why companies keep innovating to keep our business.  With innovation comes progress, lower prices, and better selection.

VS 

Some time ago, I went paperless, as it makes my life easier.  At least once a week, I scan any bills/receipts/EOBs/Bank Statements/Tax Documents/etc, put it through OCR, and organize it in a folder.  This folder is my Dropbox, which syncs everything on my computers and “in the cloud.”  DropBox is amazing, it works all the time with error, and I am able to access anything, anywhere, anytime.  If I needed to get a copy of my 2010 tax return, I can open the DropBox app on my iPhone and pull it up instantly.

A few weeks ago, Google Launched Google Drive, a competitor to DropBox.  While it does not have the speed and all of the actions that DropBox has, I know in short time it will.  The decision will then be, do I stay with DropBox or switch to Google Drive?  I love both companies, and in the end, it will depend on what features they can innovate with.  Botha re affordable, and there are a range of websites which have side by side comparisons, but I love both of them.

I am happy to live in a Market Economy, where we can vote with our dollars and where companies continue to strive and innovate to make products and services even better.  It’ll be interesting to see how Cloud Computing evolves over the coming months and years.

 

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Jan 09

Going Paperless

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My filing cabinet was full, containing thousands of documents ranging from old tax returns, to car service appointment papers, medical records, receipts, and even old school transcripts.  Although they were all organized quite well, it is still frustrating locating the documents that I need with ease, and even more difficult to view them remotely.

Well, I’ve changed that, by taking about 95% of my files and converting them into pdfs.  I’ve scanned hundreds of documents, named them in efficient ways, and organized them into meaningful categories to help me.  I’ve stored them in my Dropbox, which most of my friends now, is one of my favorite applications that Syncs all my data across all my computers and my iPhone.  I could dedicate an entire blog post, and even more, to the wonders of dropbox, but to sum it up, dropbox constantly “syncs” my files in the background across all the computers I used so that I always have a copy of what I need when and where I want it.

Once I converted everything to a pdf files and I named them properly, I organized them and shredded the original document, unless of course the original is needed, such as the pink slip to my Mini Cooper.  Now, when I need to locate a file, I can either navigate through my organized file structure or simply search for the name.  In moments, I can view the file, e-mail, or print it with ease.  Talk about convenience and simplicity!

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