Both of these issues point to two inherent limitations with cloud-based services (software and storage that reside on the Internet, not on your hard drive). I use Gmail for e-mail, Google Docs for writing documents, DropBox for backing up my files, etc.

Well, when your Internet is not working and your power is out, cloud-based services don’t work. I was unable to write anything yesterday because I couldn’t access Google Docs. (While I could write in offline mode, I needed the Internet to get to my notes and files that I needed for my work. I also have a nasty habit of keeping some notes in my e-mail.) And while I could check my e-mail on my iPhone, I was unable to do any heavy duty e-mail writing, especially e-mails that contained attachments.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cloud storage and cloud applications. It allows me to work from any computer with a modern Web browser and an Internet connection. If one of my computers breaks, I can simply switch to another and continue working. My fortunes aren’t tied to a single machine.

But when the Internet is wonky or the power is out, local storage starts to look really good. I’ll have to work on a better solution that allows me to work better when I’m not online.