Note: Fast forward to time 5:48 to see how you can share a doc.
This past week, I tried something new: Joleen and I worked remotely, but, together, on a proposal we submitted for a new project.
In the old days, application sharing (working together on a document) with video conferencing stuff was unheard of.
WebEx (and others) came along to make application sharing a bit easier, but, truthfully, most of those solutions were geared toward the coporate world and were (and still are) dang expensive.
Then sometime later, video conferencing standards were developed (H.239) that allowed endpoints to present slides to a large audience, and individuals to work together on a document. But again, the audience was limited to those who use standards-based corporate (for the most part) videoconferencing systems.
The world of collaboration was getting better. But, still difficult and costly.
Along comes Google.
And, now, application sharing using Google Docs is easy. Super easy….in fact so easy that it never occurred to me to use it. Why take the easy way out, when difficult is soooo much damn fun. 🙂
To make a long story short, Joleen and I worked collaborativly on a document that originated in Open Office and was uploaded to our shared folder on Google Docs.
I could see her typing, and she could see mine. We could chat (if we were not in the same room…how funny is that?), and the document was automatically saved in the shared folder where we could both access it at anytime, from anywhere.
VERY COOL! Application sharing made easy. Gotta love the cloud.
If you are not using Google Docs…give it a try. Collaborating with remotely located family, friends, and colleagues is easy, fun, and productive.
Hmmmm, Get off the roads!
Telecommuting = Coworking = Telework
TechyMike: Technology Made Easy 