This time, I’m starting an article with a noise. I’d like to have been able to say that the noise was a sonorous fanfare or roaring drum roll. As a result, it’s somewhat disappointing when I inform you that I’ve chosen to start this article with a “pfutt”. And not the pfutt of triumph, like a miniature steam engine being tested or a helicopter rotor starting up. No, the pfutt I want to you to think of in your head is the one made by electronic equipment, just before it gives out completely and makes it’s way to the great Radio Shack in the sky. It’s a rather depressing and British sort of failure, much like something breathing its last and quietly giving out, instead of a cacophony of flash, bang and acrid smoke that lingers around your flat for days afterwards. Anyhow, one mustn’t be too downbeat.
So as you can probably guess, Something Broke. The current culprit of choice is the power supply unit on my fiance’s computer, an unbadged and unbranded steel box that I should have replaced as soon as the collection of parts arrived about three years ago. But hindsight is wonderful in this instance, and now begins the laborious process of identifying the broken parts, ordering replacements and fitting them. It’ll be enough to keep me out of trouble, but it’s somewhat irritating all the same. Still, at least I won’t have to suffer the pain of many in my shoes by dialling some premium rate phone number to explain to someone who barely speaks my language why they should send an engineer out and what they need to replace. Be thankful for small mercies, I’m told. The fiance is currently happily using the gaming laptop we recently purchased, so at least there’s no immediate rush.
Spring cleaning has also been afoot – my own desktop has been scrubbed clean, with both XP and Vista installed and existing side by side. I’ve debated carving up a portion for Linux as well, but as my dev work is currently hosted online I’ve got no need for an Ubuntu installation. It was while doing all this work that I stumbled upon something that struck me as completely obvious, but which I’m amazed hasn’t happened. Every time I want to refresh my computer I have to back up all my user data, reformat the hard drive, reinstall the operating system and my applications, then finally reload all my user data. If I want to move from one operating system to another I usually have to install a new set of applications and hope my user data can still be read by these applications. And even so, if the drive fails all my user data is lost.
But hang on a minute, I carry around with me a device with an 8GB storage drive. Why can’t I treat the operating system as a commodity, where the PC, OS and any associated drivers are all stored in one location while my own applications, data files and so on are all retained independently of the OS on some kind of removable storage that I can carry around with me. If I want to use a different PC, why can’t I plug in a drive and just use all of my existing applications, licensed to me as an individual rather than a transient machine that may be replaced sooner or later? Why does my user data, application data and operating system need to be so closely intertwined?
This removable storage – let’s call it a Docker – I could plug it into my desktop and get my games, apps, music, documents and so on. I could unplug it and move it into my laptop and get exactly the same stuff available. If I was visiting friends, I could just take my Docker with me and plug it into their machine if I wanted to show them a game I had been playing. But more than that, because my Docker isn’t tied to an OS, I could plug it into a Linux box or a Macbook or any machine, and as long as it was compatible with my Docker it would run all the apps on it and allow me to use all my files. It makes the OS a commodity – I could pick and choose based on what I wanted rather than what ran the applications I wanted, because every OS would run the same apps.
With me so far?
So, what would the Docker look like? Would it be a solid-state-drive with a small interface, or something with a screen and Bluetooth if you wanted to exchange files on the move? Would it be something like an iPhone, giving you access to your files wherever you are? There initially sounds like a number of options on what this small device could look like and what it could offer people. After all, once you have a large storage device (I hear you can buy 512GB ones now) the possibilities are endless.
But does it have to exist at all, or could it all be “in the cloud”? Could we just hold our Docker as a virtual container on the internet, with users able to access their data anywhere they choose to go? Or would the Docker be something physical but with a synchronisation service from someone like Google, ensuring that everything on it is continually backed up. Lose your docker and you could have it locked and wiped next time it speaks to the cloud, while your replacement rebuilds your file structure from everything you have backed up.
Will it happen?
Unlikely. The OS makers like the application lock-in they get so far, as it creates a barrier to migration. If it does start to happen though, it’ll probably be in hybrid devices that double as phones, MP3 players and so on in order to keep costs down and provide users with an incentive to try. Still, if it does happen, I’d be surprised if I was the first person to come up with the idea.
Sometimes, overcoming the status quo is the biggest obstacle an idea faces.