On Google Docs

Google Docs could be very useful for us at Liverpool

Rates of computer ownership in Liverpool are quite low. Families that do own computers often lack access to important peripherals like printers. They come to us to help them.

Unfortunately, we have had two major virus issues in the past year. The second occasion seemed to be a deliberate attack. It seems the virus was spread via a USB memory stick. These attacks left the community without Internet access for long periods of time.

These attacks forced us to decide that customers couldn't use disks or memory sticks in any of out networked computers. Our customers of course wonder how they can possibly work on their documents. Google Docs could be the answer.

I will certainly suggest that our customers use Google Docs as it solves several of our major problems:

Universal access from any computer
Not subject to the fragility and fallibility of floppy disks
Can't be lost or left behind like USB's
Shouldn't be responsible for spreading viruses
And most importantly... allows to users to work on documents over a period of time

I suspect it may also help with a problem we have experienced. Our customers have more up-to-date software than we do. Many of our customers are using later versions of Word than we are. We could use Google Docs to help them rather than having to send them away to re-save their documents.