DROPBOX

I have admitted that I am not the world's best at using an iPad. And since Apple will soon release a new version, and Microsoft are due to come out with a sort of iPad/computer hybrid, I am likely to fall even further behind the current lot of teenagers. So it is a source of some pride that I have managed to work out how to use a dropbox.

Dropbox is a free product (the company makes its money by charging for extra space, once your dropbox gets over a certain size). Basically, it's a computer storage "thingy", where you can put documents, pictures and other stuff, which other people (though only those you invite) can also look at. So, instead of sending an E-Mail with family holiday photos to all of your children, or putting said photos on Facebook, where everybody can see them, you simply put them in the dropbox. To use a mathematical analogy, it's a bit like a series of overlapping sets, each set being one person's dropbox.

Computer storage? Yawn. But the really cool thing about the dropbox is that you can access it from any electronic device. So, instead of sending things between (say) computer and iPad, or computer and mobile phone, you simply put things in the dropbox and then access them from anywhere. All you need is your E-Mail address and password.

Not only have I set up a dropbox, but I have also put things in it, and managed to invite some other people to join. All in all, I am feeling pretty pleased with myself.

Walter Blotscher