Re: Amazing new device...
 

I don't see how a dock is "offline". It is "online" in the most literal sense of the term, you are on a physical, hard, line to another device.

That solution seems like a kludge to me. As I said before, the real solution is getting a big fat wireless connection to your handheld. Then it will be like you are docked, no matter where you are.

Re: Amazing new device...
 

wired or wireless, i would claim that its more important that the file formats stored are open, so that it can be read without some kind of "sync" translator in-between...

thats what i more and more see sync as, a translator between two or more proprietary (formats)...

Re: Amazing new device...
 

Some sync is that way, but there's also the (etymologically correct) meaning, about synchronizing things -- keeping two filesystems that are "the same" actually the same, without reverting updates made on either side. It's kind of the same issue as with version control systems for software development, and it's conceivable that (with homogeneous formats) you could use git as a sync engine; something like unison is more typical.

To know what type of sync is in order, it's not enough to know that the same format is used on each end. You also have to know what sort of changes are likely; if you're using a directory tree structure, a file-level sync that ensures the latest version of each file is kept probably suffices. If you're using databases stored in one file, you've got to deal with simultaneous changes in both copies, and go for something capable of record-level granularity.

Re: Amazing new device...
 

sync is something that is required when you have multiple master copies of something, whether it is a directory, a contact list, whatever. It is another kludge to workaround the fact that we are not yet in an online world, and it is still safer and easier to edit a local copy and then sync up to a remote master than it is to edit a remote master directly. I dream of a time when we have write access to the single remote master copy when we need it, then sync isn't necessary.

Re: Amazing new device...
 

The best way in communication between PC and Tablet is wireless sync/network drive. It should mound drives automaticaly when it reaches home network (or whatever else, specified in settings). It's very handy, I think. It would be nice to just put device to the charge and continue your work on the desktop. I can only imagine automatic push to the home or work PC of all browser windows open, chat rooms and it's histories, even some notes that you've done during the day - for seamless web experience. And same acton to the Tablet side, when you're leaving home/work. That's what I call «take your internet with you».

Re: Amazing new device...
 

Dream away, but latency is still an issue, even when you've got write access from everywhere. It may be less of an issue, but there will always be places and times that make a local cache essential. Ever think about internet access on the moon? When the manned base goes up, they will have a Copernicus Center caching the web, just to make it usable. (Just add 2-3 seconds to your normal ping.)

Re: Amazing new device...
 

If all you're doing is keeping a read-only cache, sync isn't necessary. It also isn't necessary if you lock the online copy, edit the document locally, and then overwrite the locked online copy after editing.

Sync only becomes necessary when you have two master copies, both with potential changes, and you have to figure out which bits need to be updated from each master to make a definitive master.

I think the moon is the perfect place to keep backups of everything. I read a really interesting novel where they kept copies of all of earth's data in a lunar base, and they even kept samples of the genes of every plant and animal there. I wish I could remember the name of the novel...

EDIT: looks like people are actually trying to do it...

Re: Amazing new device...
 

"Offline" here just means no network connection. Maybe in 10 years the "always (safely) connected" dream becomes true but today it is not. And I think the paradigm of local data (physically manageable by the owner) will not die. The dock as mentioned is just a way to connect such data to a cpu+screen on demand.

Re: Amazing new device...
 

Hmm. Well right now for less than $100/month most people posting on this board can get unlimited data connections one way or another. For reasons of battery life most of those people don't leave that connection up 24 hours a day. As time go on, devices will suck less power, power saving software will get better and hopefully battery tech will improve. And of course cellular and wimax networks are expanding, not shrinking, so more and more areas will have this capability.

On the other hand, I have never in my life seen the dock you describe. Instead I see net cafes and courtesy computers in hotel lobbies, both with hi-speed internet connections. Maybe things will change but storing data "in th cloud" seems to be the coming paradigm, not keeping all your data on one piece of physical media.

-John

Re: Amazing new device...
 

Hey there.....

Resurrecting this old thread since it seems relevant again.