Portable data storage
John Robb is suggesting that portable hard drives are the direction we should be going. You carry your data with you at all times and simply plug it in to whatever device you need to use to access it.
I have one implementation of that idea: the DiskOnKey drive that I previously wrote up. It has already changed my patterns of work in several key respects. Shuttling among four different computers, I no longer have to keep track of which computer's version of a particular file is the "definitive" or "master" version. The master version is always on the DOK, and it is replicated on the other computers.
The device's independence from other hardware is a tremendous plus. As long as a computer has a USB port (and a reasonably up to date OS), it will recognize and access the DOK. (That includes Macs!) I was in a trial recently, and had updated a spreadsheet showing lost earnings and other damages claims about five times since I had last shared it with the client. I gave the DOK to the company's accountant during the lunch break so that she could immediately download and review the updated spreadsheet and the formulas used for the calculations. I did not have to worry about whether she had the hardware necessary to access the device, as I would have to with a Zip or other similar disk.
There are differences of scale between these concepts, of course. John is talking about a device that would let the user carry 10-30 GB of data around, while the DOK I use holds 128 MB (and is only about 25% full at present). But my needs as a roving lawyer are rather modest.
7:50:14 AM 
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