All technology is ‘confusing’ to most people. Read that again – carefully this time.
Anything that is new, is on ‘computers’ and requires thinking through more than two steps – is confusing. Look, I’m not debating it – the latter is what I have seen repeatedly. Right – let me get on with the OneDrive thing before I get too distracted by thoughts pressing in from that imaginary impish figure in the back of my mind. If you’re expecting a tutorial, you’re in the wrong place. Leave now!
What is OneDrive?
It is a cloud storage space. OMG! Cloud?! Panic! Run for cover! Right – I’d be grateful if all such folk depart; leaving those who want to learn something.
OneDrive is an application. Well, actually it is two applications in one. There is a) the cloud-based app – running in the cloud (obviously) and b) the device-based app running in computers, tablets, smartphones etc.
OneDrive is like a hard-drive that is in the cloud. From there it can serve up files created in the several other applications, just like on a desktop or laptop.
The great thing is that MS Word cloud-based document can be edited in a desktop version of MS Word without downloading and saving to a physical hard-drive. The reverse is true too i.e. a device-based document can be created on a desktop and saved straight to OneDrive (in the cloud). What’s great about that? Well, ‘you’ can create a document on one device and work on it in another device, by just patching into the cloud!
But the cloud-based MS Word does something more amazing. Several people – given permissions from the owner of a document – can edit that document at the same time. You can’t do that on a document stored on a physical hard-drive.
Hold on – it works with PowerPoint and loads other MS Office apps.
Example 1
- Person A is crossing the Atlantic in private jet ✈ with an internet connection. There is a tight deadline coming up. In a few hours he is landing in Heathrow for a meeting at which he needs to deliver a presentation to multimillionaire business people. He creates a PowerPoint document shortly after becoming airborne – from his tablet and saves it in the cloud (OneDrive).
- Person A shares the secure link to that PowerPoint by email or MS Teams to two other colleagues who are contributing.
- Person B patches in from their computer in Canada.
- Person C from Newcastle in UK is in on it too.
- They all know from marked sections of the document which parts they are they are working on.
- The three of them work away, so that by the time A lands in Heathrow the job is done.
- They are not emailing versions around and getting confused.
- The team are complete in three hours. Person A has enough time to have a meal and catch some sleep for 2 hours.
- Person A delivers a brilliant presentation at a hotel in Heathrow, thanking others in his team. ?
- He’s now off to Milan for another meeting! ??
Example 2
- Jobbing health service workers have to get a report done in 48 hours.
- It’s a multidisciplinary thing. They’re not in a private jet! Jeeez!
- They are poor ‘slaves’ ? keeping a creaking health service from crumbling to pieces. ?♂️Five of them need to contribute.
- A document is generated and saved to the cloud by one person.
- A secure link to the MS Word document on OneDrive is sent out by email.
- They don’t all need to be working on it at the same time. But as it happens three of them happen to be on at the same time.
- Others contribute at different times. No versions to be sent out in attachments to email.
- This is well coordinated. Each contributor makes inputs in respective sections of the document.
- Job done in 36 hours – not everybody working flat out.
- A creaking health service unit is saved! ?♂️?
Example 3
- Person X is at work on a desktop. She has created a MS Word document.
- She can’t carry a desktop home in her bag – obviously.
- USB drives are not permitted and can’t be used because they are blocked.
- She has the sense not to email herself and collect via a web-based Outlook email platform, then to downloaded it, then to edit and then reattach it to send back to herself (to collect at work).
- So she saved the document to the cloud, from work.
- When she has gotten home early she opens that document in the web-based OneDrive and works on it right there – from a laptop provided by her organisation.
- It’s sorted. No downloading and reattaching etc.
- The next day back at the office, she would just open the desktop MS Word and from there open the cloud document for final minor edits.
Wrapping up
You don’t have to use OneDrive. You could easily argue that you don’t have use for it – and that you’re ‘not convinced’.
Was I trying to convince anyone? I was NOT!
Some people like stress. That’s ‘good’ for them cuz they have more to moan about among their fellow ditherers.
Disclaimer & Guidance
The reading of posts on this blog is subject to the Terms & Conditions. Unpalatable truths and personal experiences may be told. Nothing posted on this blog is directed at any identified person. On occasions individuals are quoted anonymously. That does not mean that they have been identified to the world. Should any person or organisation reading this blog find something that makes them feel or know that they are being referred to – any such perceived identification does not mean ‘identified to the world’. ‘Stupid‘ is an impish figment of my imagination who occasionally is allowed to pop up – and does not represent any known individual, individuals or groups. The treatment of ‘Stupid‘ is not representative of the way people are treated in real life. Adverse inferences made are dismissed in advance.
