Day 13 – Thunder in the Cloud
Teaching and Learning with a Windows 8 Tablet3/24/2013
Welcome to Day 13 of working with a Microsoft Surface Pro Windows 8 tablet for educators. Today is Sunday so I am taking the day off for the most part with the exception of this blog post.
As I get ready to write this post snow is coming down rapidly. March weather is weird, this morning the sound of thunder could be heard as the first snow fell. The forecast is calling for a foot of snow tonight and we have already lost Internet connection at my house. This outage is probably due to the snow piling up on the wireless antennas that we rely upon to deliver Internet service here in the country. Living in the country has many benefits, but also has a few downsides. Below is a picture of one of the benefits I took this afternoon.
I will do my best to post this entry today, but if not you know why.
Before the Internet went out we were experiencing very slow Internet service this weekend. It is March Madness here in the United States and many people are now using the Internet as a glorified TV. Between weekend Netflix usage and the March Madness College basketball tournament, the bandwidth I rely upon to access cloud-based resources like Skydrive and other Microsoft account resources has been diminished.
This is yet another reminder of “the cloud” not being ready for prime time. When using a modern PC like the Surface Pro we expect cloud services to be there all the time. This outage requires an adjustment that I can make, although it is an inconvenience.
It also underscores the point that I still must have a hybrid approach to computing for occasions like this. If the cloud is not available I do have a Plan B to continue to work. I am using Microsoft Word 2013 on the Surface Pro to write this entry and when the Internet connection is back I will post it.
This experience has given me pause to consider the new “Chromebook” computing paradigm that heavily relies upon the cloud. The Chromebook is intriguing for educators as some models only cost $250 and are essentially a Chrome browser with the bones of a laptop. I am still interested in learning more about the Chromebook but if I were using a Chromebook today it would be useless.
Besides, I can have a Chromebook-like experience on the Surface Pro using the Chrome browser on the Desktop. I do use the Chrome browser along with the new IE 10 browser and is another example of the flexibility built into the Surface Pro. The advantage of the Surface Pro today for me is that I can continue to use it as a PC without Internet connection and get things done locally.
Until next time...
Keep on Learning,
Keep on Learning,
Tom Grissom, PhD
Follow me on Twitter @tomgrissom
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