Posted by: Contributing columnist, Clarion-Ledger, Business, March 9, 2016:
Two weeks ago, I started down the path of covering “technologies everyone should know.” Since then, I have had an interesting discussion about whether certain things are really necessary to know or whether they are simply helpful but not necessary. Without getting too deep into a debate about what is really needed to be considered “technology literate,” I hope to at least cover technologies that will give people more enjoyment whether they feel comfortable around technology or not. So this week, we’ll cover in more detail the websites Etsy and Reddit as well as the concept of “the cloud.”
Admittedly, to gain a deeper background on Etsy, I got significant input from my wife, Sheila, and my colleague, Tasha Bibb. While that should not necessarily suggest that the site is exclusively for women, it certainly isn’t for the shopping-phobic like me. Etsy is a peer-to-peer, online marketplace where users can find unique, handmade, customizable and vintage items, such as art, books, music, toys, jewelry, clothing and craft supplies. As an example, brides often use Etsy to find that one-of-a-kind, memorable detail to include in their wedding, like rustic laser-cut wooden wedding invitations or hand-stitched invitations. Since Etsy offers items one wouldn’t normally find in a shopping mall, it’s also a popular means of picking out gifts.
Etsy also gives artists and craftsmen an online platform to sell their items. Sellers are able to expose their products and capabilities beyond the walls of their brick and mortar businesses. Even if you aren’t into the cut-throat Instagram competition among kid’s birthday party decorating, Etsy is a great place to find specialty items or to show off — and get paid for — creative skills.
Anyone familiar with the really early days of Internet bulletin boards will quickly get Reddit — whose name, per its FAQ, is “(sort of) a play on words (i.e., ‘I read it on Reddit’).” Reddit users can post anything they want, including quotes, pictures, links or other information. The big change from old-school message boards is in how the posts are organized. Users can “vote up” or “vote down” any post or comment so that the items most often voted up are displayed the most prominently.
Reddit is organized into a front page and thousands of sub-Reddits. The front page contains the most popular of items from the sub-Reddits, and each sub-Reddit is represented by one or more moderators. While “moderator” is an accurate term since they generally keep the posts on the targeted topic, it definitely does not imply that the content is clean or child-friendly, so individuals and parents should be aware that many of the topics and entire sub-Reddits can be inappropriate.
Most likely, nearly everyone has heard of “the cloud,” but if not, it’s fairly easy to explain. Cloud-based activities are those things that happen on the Internet and are available to access from remote locations via smartphone or computer. Most people generally know about basic cloud-based functions like online storage, but there are a wealth of cloud-based resources for business and personal use. In addition to basic online backup solutions, which are probably some of the oldest cloud-based applications, there are many other applications that allow you to access information from nearly anywhere, pick up exactly where you left off and not worry about the possibility of losing any of the information because it is securely stored online.
Many file-sharing sites have made the use of the cloud an easy solution for transferring large files that might otherwise get blocked by some email services, and some of the online backup applications have grown to become valuable file-sharing applications as well. At home, I use Carbonite for backing up all of our important computer files; and with the Carbonite app, I can access every photograph I have on my home desktop from my smartphone. With more and more applications and storage options on the cloud, it’s becoming the case that everyone with a simple way to access the Internet can get whatever information they need, anytime and anywhere.
Next week, I’ll wrap up the discussion of “technologies everyone should know” and will cover music-related technologies and apps. In the meantime, I welcome your comments and feedback.
Tony Jeff is the president and CEO of Innovate Mississippi. He can be reached at tjeff@innovate.ms.