I know I’m probably a bit late to the party on this one, but I’m adjusting to life with mobile devices that can not only interact with one another, but also synchronize my personal information and actually structure how I spend my time.

Whoa.

‘Cloud computing’ has been something of a buzzword recently, with various notable tech pundits going back and forth over the pros and cons of this type of data access (the security concerns, interoperability, and the like). But looking at the impact personally, as your run of the mill end user, I’m more than a little amazed by having the ability to remain in constant contact with every news site, personal document, social network, email account, video clip, et. al. that I could ever desire in a given single day. Edit my resume in the car on the way to work? Not a problem.

Smart phone + google apps + extra storage = a rapidly shrinking day

And I suppose that’s probably the biggest con of all. As much as I love this integration and access, nay, this preternatural sense of constantly being in touch with a larger whole (anybody feel like running with ‘internet as the new god’? and afterall, isn’t that part of the draw of social networking sites as well?) I find an increasing amount of my time being spent organising and maintaining as much of that data as I can. Well that, and looking for new apps to do it for me.

Perhaps its a neccessary newness and the shock will wear off, but I try to be mindful of the old adage “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. And as we all know, these days access to information, even more than information itself, constitutes power…

Tags: Aesthetiophilia, I should probably go to bed // Add Comment »