Google Docs have been a life saver for me in many ways. Being a little slow to pick up what’s cool I have always been a late starter in terms of adapting to the latest trends and apps. I guess I’m comfortable in what I use and do - most of the time anyway.
But since I discovered Google Docs I have made the switch from a cluttered hard drive (mind you on a new laptop) to a Zen like appearance. Maybe not quite yet but I’m certainly getting there.
Say goodbye to digital paper clutter
I can now safely store all my freelance articles on Google Docs without having to resort to updating my hard drive every year. With Google Docs I can:
- Upload existing files in doc and excel format as well as Open Office related stuff
- Create new word documents
- Create presentations
- Create spreadsheets
- Export into all kinds of format including zip files and PDF as well as HTML
- Create folders that are related to clients/projects/self
- Move things around
- Delete stuff
- Copy and paste
- Share with clients or JV partners
- Rename docs
- and much more
- hell you can even star certain documents to make them stand out
Good habits result from resisting temptation - Ancient Proverb
A solution for freelance writers
Google Docs is the ideal solution for me as a freelance writer. Another bonus is the fact that it is portable. I don’t have to carry my laptop with me if I go travelling for a short trip. Simple jumpdrives
I’m nearly done moving all my documents online to Google Docs and I feel like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders. Now when I create new documents and spreadsheets I go directly to Google Docs and work there.
I really love the simple but useful application that allows me to write and store my work without added fluff. The document writer even contains a spell check feature which of course is essential for us writers.
I’d love to know how you experienced Google Docs and whether you found it useful for your own needs.
Monika
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Hey Monika,
I LOVE GOOGLE DOCS! In fact, I love the whole hosted app thing Google has going on. I travel a lot and I’ve always struggled with a good way to get my cache of docs, spreadsheets, and presentations from place to place. Google Docs is the solution. In fact, I love it so it was the central theme in my post How To Work In the Internet - Part 1.
- Thom
Hey Thom,
I’m glad I’m on the right path to getting organized once and for all. It sure as hell feels great and like you I just love them.
Monika…I am going to start a blog soon and hence experimenting with various desktop and web based blogging clients.I have tried Google Docs and Zoho Writer and prefer Zoho Writer because it has the margins feature.Google Docs’ wide layout makes difficult the alignment of images with text according to your blog width.Have you faced this problem?..if yes then how did you cope with it?
Other than that ,if you use Google Docs only for text and don’t use images often in your post then I think Google Docs is pretty good.
Abhijeet: I don’t use Google Docs to post my blog posts. There are much easier applications like “Windows Live Writer” to make styling images and layout much easier.
One thing that I have found Google Docs useful for is opening up those obscure Open Office documents that people send me.
And as you said, it is accessible from everywhere and that is a huge benefit for people.
Jylan: I guess those Open Office users (I’m using them too occasionally) don’t know that they can actually save their docs in word file via the pull down menu just before you save them.
Maybe you could tell them and it will make your life a little easier too.
Great article Monika. I have Office. I would say at some point I am going to have to make a decision of updating office, or going with docs.
What scares me with docs is that its not on your server, hard drive. What happens when Oracle buys Google, and decides everyone using docs now has to pay $25 per month for the service. At least with office, I don’t have to upgrade and would still have the use of my old info.
Pennsylvania: In that case I would simply save all my stuff in a huge zip file and upload to DVDs.
At this stage however I’m not worried and would actually gladly pay too if it helps to keep the clutter of my hard drives.
I must say you have one of best looking hard drives i’ve looked at lately! Ha Ha!
Zip to DVD and reformat in the new software. WOW!
Just something to be aware of.
Pennsylvania: not sure whether I got your last comment? I didn’t mean to replace a hard drive with a DVD, but merely to burn all my files onto it. Naturally I’d make it a data DVD.
The reason I’d choose a DVD over a CD is because of the available storage.
I think you said that if they started charging you would just copy everything to cd or dvd. If your not using google docs, then what good is the saving of information in the google docs format? What I was saying, if I decided to never update my office software, at least I will always be able to read them. Maybe I really don’t uderstand what google docs does. If you create a document in google docs and send it to me, how do I read it? Do I need to use google docs to read it?
Pennsylvania: got you know. You can actually export documents as a doc file, HTML, PDF, Excel, text from Google Doc. So when I create documents and files I can export them as a zip file and then send as email attachment for example.
The person on the other end doesn’t need to have access, unless I want to share files for a joint collaboration.
So I can still read them in Office files as usual and also Open Office.
Hopefully that makes sense now.
My only problem with using services such as this are terms such as the one quoted below. Most services seem to have clauses like this. Google’s is worded such that it seems to be trying to say it only uses it’s “royalty-free” license to display your content to you in the course of providing the service. However, a lot of other services lay claim to content you submit through them in order to use it at no cost for their own advertising purposes. Online photo sharing services are notorious for slipping these clauses in and gaining dubious right to use photographer’s work royalty-free.
All this might make me sound bitter. But I don’t think Google is going to swipe anyone’s best selling novel out from under them. It’s just lawyer talk that can potentially backfire on unsuspecting users.
Section 11.1 of the Terms of Service governing Google Docs is replaced in its entirety by:
“You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Service. By submitting, posting or displaying the Content you give Google a worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through the Service for the sole purpose of enabling Google to provide you with the Service in accordance with its Privacy Policy.”
@ Dan: yes, I agree, that is a worry to some extent. If I was to upload images I would however be a lot more worried than with docs.
The reason being is that when I write for clients, this work is normally published and once online the spiders crawl their sites and that’s it.
If Google were to copy this and post somewhere else they’d only shoot themselves in the knee for duplicate content. So they would have to mix things up and make new reports, articles, press releases, etc. just for the sake of keeping the content unique to them.
I think it is fair to say that this would be highly unrealistic since they have better things to do than”steal” other people’s stuff (like counting their money).
I’ve played around with Google docs a little bit, but I’m not brave enough to move everything there. I’m sort of a private person and the idea of Google holding all my important documents…well, it just doesn’t sit well with me. I’ll just keep my stuff on my own computer for now.
I do think it’s great for collaborators. It sure makes the work load simpler to be able to share a document, rather than emailing it back and forth several times to each other.
@ Hope: welcome to my online home. It is great to have you stop by and say hello.
Yes, Google Docs are cool to share. So easy and uncomplicated. Interesting to see that you feel safer by keeping your docs locally. But that’s fine.
I simply found it easier to offload all my past work to free up my hard drive and keep the computer running efficiently.