Work anywhere

Back in 1993 or so, I picked up an old computer book in the used book store. The author, writing in the late 60s or so said that computers would evolve so that common people would have “terminals” in their home and they would pay for access to a central server. In ‘93, the internet was just starting to take hold among home users and the real story was the personal computer. As I looked at the book, I thought that the author was wrong in his predictions in that he didn’t take into account the power that each “terminal” or PC would possess, that we would in fact have the main computer on our desks and wouldn’t have to connect to the central server.

But thirteen years later, I have to admit that this author had the right idea. PCs have continued to evolve in power, but even more compelling than what’s on my desktop is the power and content I can connect to “out there” - not on a central server exactly, but on the millions of servers that make up the web.

With high-speed access becoming more common, possibilities about where we have to work are expanding. I used to have to sit in my office to work on my sermon, go over my list of church prospects, hospital calls, etc. For a long time I wished for a notebook, even though I find them tedious to use, just so I could take my work anywhere. But my paradigm is starting to change, and I’m realizing that it’s possible to have access to whatever I need anywhere there is a computer.

ITRedux.com recently posted a list of many applications on the web to take the place of MS Office, Wordperfect Suite or whatever you use. A lot of these are free and offer a basic feature set. Others are professional grade and require a monthly fee.

I used MS Outlook for quite awhile to pick up my Yahoo email and organize my tasks, but I have recently switched back to My Yahoo for mail and calendar (it has improved over the last few years) and I use Backpack for my to-do list. Last night I prepared my small-group Bible studies at home using Writley’s word processor and Bible Gateway’s Bible.

I’m really just getting started with this work anywhere concept, but I like it.

April 19, 2006 · Filed Under Life, Web, Work

Comments

One Response to “Work anywhere”

  1. bartlmay on April 19th, 2006 11:56 am

    His prediction of a terminal in every home is odd enough. Now there is the fact that with WiFi hotspots you can take a laptop computer and wirelessly connect to the Internet. In some cases a handheld computer can do the same thing as a laptop.

    To add to that is that there is a free service out there that will allow you to remote control another computer. Thus, thanks to the WiFi that the church now has you can even go so far as to take a notebook computer onto the stage and without having to install MS Office on it, take remote control of the computer in your office to compose your sermons. Just as good as the VPN. Yes, I am aware of the security issues of the potential for hackers to access the church’s computers. This program is safe in that respect.

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