Synchronicity, technology's holy grail
There are many ways to sync pieces of our data stores. Yet there is no simple, universal way to sync all of it. Data stores include files, calendar, email, contacts, photos, music, video, etc. You might expect a solution from Microsoft, Google or Apple. None exists.
We live in a time of technological wonder. Our machines do so much now and yet continue to evolve into ever more feature rich platforms. The proliferation of useful Internet connected devices creates a problem in efficiently managing information location. We store information in multiple places. We have documents, presentations, and spreadsheets in the office. We have photos, music and recorded video at home. We have music, audiobooks, on our smartphone or MP3 player. We have email, contacts and calendars that we want available wherever we are. Have you ever needed an email address or file that you have stored at another location? This is quite maddening in today’s fast-paced world.
Synchronicity is defined as, “the relation that exists when things occur at the same time”. I use the term more broadly to refer to the complete synchronization of information, having it available when, where and how you want it, on whatever device you using at the moment. For example, you are listening to an audio book in the car on your iPod when you pull in to the garage. When you are sitting in front of a computer, you should be able to resume the audio book at the same place you left off in the car without needing the iPod. Synchronicity means that the spreadsheet you worked on in the office is available to you at home or on vacation without having to think about bringing it with you. It means that the place where you left off reading a book on your Kindle shows up when you open the eBook reader on your smartphone so you do not have to hunt for your place. It means that you can go from one video display device to another, play the same content, and never lose your place.
Synchronization is a form of backup. It differs from true backup in that synchronization mirrors information stores rather than archiving them. If we add, change or delete a file or bit of information in a synchronized setup those changes are mirrored at all locations. With backup, you have older copies and copies of deleted files.
I have tried many sync applications. The granddaddy of syncing is the Microsoft Exchange email service (MAPI) which keeps all your computers’ email looking the same. IMAP provides the same capability for non-Exchange environments. Google provides several tools for syncing. Their email, calendar, contacts and Google Docs are online so any connected computer will be in sync. If you want to go offline and sync later, they provide other tools. They provide the free Google Calendar Sync to pass calendar information between Microsoft Outlook, the Google online calendar, and your smartphone, BlackBerry or iPhone. Microsoft provides the free Windows Live Sync and Windows Live Mesh for synchronizing files. They are developing new services to integrate with the Live Mesh Desktop that will sync more of your digital life in the future. Apple has its $99 per year MobileMe service. It has at times been called MobileMess because they are still trying to figure this out. Amazon’s eBook reader, the Kindle, syncs with another Kindle or an iPhone/iPod Touch running their Kindle app. It lets you effortlessly move from one eBook device to another while maintaining your place and your bookmarks. Xmarks.com (formerly Foxmarks) and Delicious.com let you sync and share your browser bookmarks. These are all partial sync solutions at best.
I imagine someday this stuff will happen automatically for all of our personal information, our files, bookmarks, favorites, media, etc. I do not imagine that will happen any time soon.