We've been using thumb drives for years in IT, but I saw the surest sign of them hitting the mainstream last weekend. Tax preparation software distributed on a thumb drive.
Just a reminder that what may seem like old hat to us is the latest and greatest for mainstream America. James hooked me up with a site devoted to portable apps on a thumb drive, which I might have mentioned on a post before. I love being able to take my programs and settings with me when traveling or even visiting another office. I wonder whether we could get away with having people here start officially storing their personal stuff on a thumb drive that they could take to any computer? (Or would that be a disaster waiting to happen? - Not so worried about backup, more theft...)
Comments (5)
Loss of the device would be a big concern for me, whether through theft(which I would hope would be a very rare problem) or misplacing.
I do like the idea of having one's personal settings, files, and apps travel with the user. I wonder if small traveling units (thumb drives or what have you) that connect (either physically or via Bluetooth or the like) to the PC will be part of how organizations will manage computing in the future? Especially organizations whose employees regularly conduct business at various places in a standard work day.
Posted by James | January 8, 2007 9:40 AM
Posted on January 8, 2007 09:40
I'm probably going to regret this comment, but what you guys are talking about as far as portability is possible within MS's framework to achieve. Roaming Desktops, redirected documents folders, and others. To the user it always looks the same no matter where they are (think back to the neXt days). They could even take it home with them via a VPN connection. The big downside of it will always be network uptime, if the network's down, the servers can't very well figure out who you are to give you the correct stuff. Portable devices, while they sound great, are I feel too much of a burden on the user to remember to take it with them when they're going somewhere, or they would be lost, which leaves potentially sensitive data "somewhere".
Posted by Brian | January 9, 2007 8:11 PM
Posted on January 9, 2007 20:11
The thumb drive comment was kind of a tangent anyway. I think roaming desktops are a very real and proven technology. I've worked with them and for anyone who doesn't mind not being able to install their own stuff, they are very hassle-free for the user when everything is set up right and is reliable. Whether or not they are right for Allegheny is an entirely different conversation, of course!
Posted by Jason | January 10, 2007 8:09 AM
Posted on January 10, 2007 08:09
Just want to weigh in on roaming desktops. These were very popular in the NeXT day, despite the occasional spinning disc. The network seems more reliable these days than back then. i think users would go for this in a big way, especially if we throw in the VPN - no more need to ftp backups, would be able to access everything from home, from a podium machine, etc. If ever we get to a point where we seriously consider this, I'm voting yes.
Posted by Susan | January 10, 2007 10:54 AM
Posted on January 10, 2007 10:54
Do you really think this is new thing? Your blog is really good to me, I read it to get useful info, but sometimes I'm bored to tears.
Posted by darrenh | April 3, 2008 7:29 AM
Posted on April 3, 2008 07:29