NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Spreadsheets on iPad: Onlive Desktop
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2012 Feb 26, 10:45 -0800
From: Lu Abel
Date: 2012 Feb 26, 10:45 -0800
I ran this past a friend of mine who is a deep expert in remote access of computers (for example, he maintains a medium-size manufacturing company's computers in Texas from his home in Silicon Valley) and he said that Onlive's Windows computers are real individual machines and not virtual ones (ie, a single computer behaving as if it is many by "multitasking"). With a fixed number of machines, one is left with the possibility of having to "wait in line" to access a machine. He also worries about the ability to do mouse-like actions on a touch-screen iPad whose user interface works in a totally different manner.
Nevertheless, this sounds like a clever idea. The iPad is a remarkable machine. But while their processor speeds are similar, the iPad has vastly less storage capability than a laptop.
BTW, my friend owns several iPads and loves them.
From: Frank Reed <FrankReed@HistoricalAtlas.com>
To: NavList@fer3.com
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 11:43 PM
Subject: [NavList] Spreadsheets on iPad: Onlive Desktop
There's a new service that runs Windows on an iPad (may work on iPhone; other platforms soon). It's called "Onlive Desktop". It actually runs Windows on a server, and you see it and interact with it at very nearly the same speed that you would if you were running it on a home computer. It requires a continuous internet connection, and, so far, it's only available in the US but they're expanding. The amazing thing here is that you work in real versions of Microsoft Office products with almost no limitations. So you can run any navigation spreadsheet that you can imagine, not just small ones that run in the usual "app-sized" versions of spreadsheet software on mobile devices. For $5 a month you get full internet access ...including near-perfect Flash (poor Steve...).Is it too good to be true? Probably. It's very fast right now because they don't have many users. And you'll find you will probably prefer to use it with a Bluetooth keyboard, and unless you're good at tapping just the right spot, you may want an iPad-compatible stylus. Also, Apple may well come to their senses and realize that this product could wipe out a substantial portion of their revenue.-FER
----------------------------------------------------------------
NavList message boards and member settings: www.fer3.com/NavList
Members may optionally receive posts by email.
To cancel email delivery, send a message to NoMail[at]fer3.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
