Everything today is in the Cloud – our photos, documents, sites, etc.
What I hadn’t realized was how much my own laptop’s initial setup was tied to the cloud.
I just got a new MacBook Air 13″ — which I must say is a big improvement over the 2010 model, and here were my steps to getting things setup:
- Install Dropbox (love LAN sync)
- Install 1password (which for me requires Dropbox)
- Install Evernote (via Apple App Store — runs locally, but cloud’ish)
- Install Skype (non-cloud)
- Install Adium (non-cloud)
- Install Spotify (all my music is in the cloud)
- Install mailplane (all my email is in the cloud / google apps)
- Download Chrome and watch in real-time as extensions appear (they sync) – pretty cool.
- Install sophos anti-virus (shows how popular Macs have become)
- Install office for mac (Downloaded trial version & put in my purchase code. I also use google docs a bunch, but for contracts Word is still the best w/ tracking)
- Turn off OS X auto correct !
So these 11 steps took all of about 25 minutes and then another hour or so for Dropbox to fully sync. And obviously nothing was installed from a DVD or USB.
I’m guessing that in 2 years when I setup the next new laptop, everything will either be in the cloud or get installed via an App store.
There are downsides in terms of control and what this means to some independent software publishers — but overall from a user experience, it’s pretty amazing to me how quickly things have shifted, and how just a few years ago you would spend a bunch of hours installing software, and do so largely from DVDs.
Raanan Bar-Cohen 
So *all* your files are on dropbox? docs, pictures …
there is nothing totally local?
Ya, everything is on there — with the one exception of iMovie project files, that I haven’t done much of lately. I’ll usually keep those local, and then push the final video file to Dropbox.
Nice. can you share the size of your Dropbox account?
A bit over 100GB …
could not work for me with the Israeli slow uploads 😦
ya, i hear ya. Although I kept seeing ads for faster internet in Israel during “The Voice” show a while back — if I remember correctly it seemed pretty fast.
Nice post – I pretty much follow on your cloud tips here but use Google Drive rather than Dropbox. Chrome is awesome and will be looking at Google apps for business.
Still unsure which email client to use as Gmail is a little clunky online – Mailplane looks worth a look?
Mailplane is nice in that you can have mail and calendar open in one app – worth taking a look.