Cloud Computing Needs To Help People Migrate From Old Electronic Devices To New Ones

December 23rd, 2008 | Comments | Email This Article

David Churbuck says that cloud computing (aka “the cloud”) needs to alleviate the “nasty, stupid experience” of migrating from an old PC to a new one. I’m a Mac guy and agree. Electronic devices are near disposable, but the data and apps they carry (and we rely on) are not. We need data and apps to freely flow among devices, with proper security and management controls, of course.

And that means far more than just PCs. We need the cloud to power mobile devices as well. Here’s an example of why: Sprint’s service technicians fully cracked the back casing lock on my Blackberry. “Everything’s fine, don’t worry, we’ll get you a new one at no charge,” they reassured. I’m a heavy user of Gmail, Google Maps and TwitterBerry among other apps; I also maintain a large personal contact database, which syncs with my Mac’s email client. Downloading all the apps again, setting them up, and reinstalling all my personal contacts was a big hassle and killed many hours. Oh, yeah, then there was all the basic user reconfiguration for the Blackberry — a painful experience because the navigation system gets more cryptic as your settings requirements become more detailed. (How do I change the ring tone?) There ought to be a single code I can enter to enable a mobile cloud re-install and re-activation of my applications, databases and settings to any approved device. I believe thing will eventually get better over the next few years, but they’re first going to get a lot worse.

What do you think?

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Cains

We're getting close. Firefox stores all extensions & preferences, all my data is backed up on Google (though for some reason , they still store search preferences as a cookie) & there's an abundance of cloud sync'ing services.

Getting these kinds of features straight out of the box would be a big step, especially for mobile devices. But whose responsibility is it, manufacturers or carriers? What would happen if you wanted to change providers, it's naive to think they could all co-operate.

I expect it to stay a secondary market service.

maxkalehoff

Thanks for weighing in. I don't really care who offers it, but it's a big
opportunity for someone. I'm just a regular guy, and I know I'm not happy
with the status quo.

Max Goldberg

This should be a priority. With all of the new devices and features on those devices, the cloud is the logical place to park everything and have it handy for future use. Are there many companies working on this now?

Max Goldberg
The Radical Clarity Group

maxkalehoff

Not sure, but it's a huge opportunity because we all know there's a
lot of pain! In terms of mobile devices, the best the network
providers will do now is transfer your phone numbers. But that's a
very incomplete offewring, of course.

Matthew Hurst

If this is really what you want, I think you will be a big fan of Windows 7 and Live Mesh - you should check them out!

maxkalehoff

I think it's what I want, though I don't pretend to be anything more than
the stupid mobile consumer, constantly disappointed at the service. I'll
check out Live Mesh.