Technology to simplify life: A talk with 38 Pages

These days with so many advances in technology it is possible to get confused or overwhelmed when in actuality, technology is available to help simplify your life – whether at home or at the office. We sat down with 38pages CEO Wes Thompson with some questions on the latest about the Google cloud.

What exactly is the “cloud” I keep hearing about and what does it mean for me and my family?

The cloud consists of web-based applications such as file storage and data that is stored and served in a distributed web environment. More importantly is what the cloud can do. It allows you to synchronize files between multiple computers and devices, allows you to share information more easily and provides a more accessible environment for real time collaboration.     

Google is a great example of the power of the cloud. You can create a calendar for your son’s soccer team and share it with friends and relatives. You can create a family budget in Google Docs (a spreadsheet document) and share that with your husband so that you both stay on the same page regarding your finances without having to keep a local file on a computer. These files are always backed up in the cloud. If your computer becomes infected with a virus or the hard drive fails, you still can access your calendar and your budget from anywhere with an internet connection.  

I have all of my children’s photos on my cell phone. How can I upload and share these with our family and friends?

I recommend Google Picasa – picasa.google.com. You can easily create albums, add photos, share photos, apply simple edits to photos such as rotate, red eye removal, cropping and color balancing. Picasa also has a feature where it recognizes faces within the photos that you add. You can name all the people in your photos and before you know it, you have a library of photos categorized by names. Also, many apps for smart phones allow you to upload directly from your phone to Picasa and bypass connecting your phone to your computer altogether.  

This fall is really busy for my family. How can the Google cloud help us coordinate all of our schedules?

Google Calendar! Spend some time playing with it. It is very powerful. You can invite people to events, create multiple calendars, make calendars public or private, as well as providing other permissions control. A great example: A friend’s mother has a beach house that we stay at during the summer. Yet, his mother manages the schedule for the beach house from a paper and pen calendar system. No one knows who is staying when. Now, if she would just create a Google Calendar and share it with all of those who need to know, planning our summer beach trips would be a breeze.  

Would I have technical support in helping me get started?

Absolutely. Our team offers hands on training and support and we love nothing more than to bring technology solutions to businesses and families who need them the most. Get in touch with us at 38pages.com.