to the cloud!
On tooltime Thursdays we will try to bring you inexpensive and free tools that will save your church time and money without compromising your ability to be productive in accomplishing your mission. Some weeks, we'll discuss brand new things that have recently become available, while other weeks we will fall back on old standards that have stood the test of time and continue to be economic choices for everyone. That is the case for this initial post.
There was a day when computers for your ministry leaders, along with the software to run them, were financial backbreakers that were difficult for fledling and smaller ministries to afford. That was then--this is now. Prices for computers, both desktop and laptop, continue to fall, as do the prices on smartphones. It is estimated that by the end of 2011, half of all adults in the United States will have a smart phone, thanks largely to the falling price of these habdheld computers. Additionally, Google has just announced the June release of their Chromebooks, which will run entirely on cloud technology and will be fairly inexpensive. While this solution may not be right for everyone (especially those doing artistic things), it can be a viable solution for much of your office staff. Take a look at the advantages here.
But whether you go with a standard computer or something from the new generation, the cloud is now freely available to everyone. Skydrive from Microsoft offers 25 GB free, Google offers a gig, and the Amazon Cloud Drive offers 5 GB free, which upgrades to 20 GB if you buy an MP3 album from them. More available and secure storage is out there for the taking, and small ministries can get what they need without extensive networking solutions, hiring IT folks, and losing things to failed or old computers.
In addition, the once expensive Office Suite is now available FREE online, as well as the similar Open Office. The bottom line is simple....if you're paying for it in the age of free and open source, you're paying too much.