Home is where we keep the things we need. Whether it's a lawn mower or a coffee pot,
it has a home in our lives. Of course, our documents are no different. For years, they've
lived on our computers. Each person has their own computer-based home for documents.
When we need to share a document, we usually attach it to an email and send it to a friend's
or co-worker's computer home. Here's the problem: When you attach a document to an email, copies
are created. Consider this. If you send an email attachment to three people, the same
document will exist in four different places. That's a problem.
There's a better way, and it means saying good-bye to messy email attachments. This
new kind of home isn't on your computer. It's on the Internet.
And that makes sharing and collaborating on documents much easier and gives you full control
over who can see and access your documents. Here's the basic idea. Instead of attaching
a document to an email, let's switch it around and look at how we can attach an email address
to a document. Meet Sam. Sam is the editor of a neighborhood
newsletter called the Oak Tree View. She works with local writers who would like to publish
articles in the newsletter. Sam loves her job but often feels frustrated when time is
wasted managing all the articles. It's a familiar problem. Each month, writers send her draft
articles as email attachments. She reviews them and sends them back with comments. One
article might create six different versions of the same file, not to mention countless
emails. Sam often feels buried by all the email attachments. She finds it hard to keep
track of all the versions being sent to her from the writers. As the deadline looms, frustration
rises. Something has to give. Sam decides to try something new: Google Docs.
Here's what happens. First, she visits the Google Docs page and
creates a free Google account. She logs in, and because some articles were already written,
she uploads the current drafts right from her computer. With a snap [clicking fingers]
Google Docs turns the offline articles into online versions. Now, all she needs to do
is invite the writers to collaborate on the documents. Here's how.
She clicks 'Share', inserts email addresses, and click 'Invite Collaborators'. Google Docs
sends the writers an email with a secure link directly to her document. One click, and they
can edit and save the document online. This means that when Julie edits the document,
Sam see the changes immediately. Since there's only one document, there's never confusion
about updates or versions; it's all saved, along with the past versions on the website.
For the first time, the articles all have a home; a single place for organizing and
editing that is accessible from any computer with Internet access.
Problem solved. What's really cool is that this problem isn't
just solved for documents but also spreadsheets and presentations. All three can now have
a secure home on the web that works exactly like Sam's documents.
Sam is relieved. Without having to deal with attachments, multiple versions and all that
clutter, she can be an editor instead of a document master. And for the next newsletter,
not a single email attachment is sent and Sam beats the deadline by a week.
Sharing documents made simple, and all for free. Google Docs rocks!