Jooce – Power to the People? April 10, 2008

Public Libraries have been attempting to address the problem of the ‘digital divide’ for a few years now by offering free internet access to users. However one could argue that there is still a divide between those who can afford to own PCs and those who can’t, as many of the features, for example bookmarking, RSS, folders to store documents, are still unavailable when using a public PC. Some libraries even restrict access to sites for social networking or instant messaging – which is amazingly backward when you consider how prevalent these methods of communication have become in our lives, and how many libraries are now in fact embracing these technologies.

Bearing this in mind, I was extremely interested to see this article in Times Online. Bring on the age of the ‘Virtual PC’! Companies have realised there is a gap in the market for providing a ‘remote’ operating system and these are now beginning to pop up on the web. One of these is Jooce. It’s a new software which has been developed to allow people who do not own a PC to have access via the Jooce website to a customisable, personalised desktop on any computer – you just go to Jooce and log in. I’ve had a go and I’m initially quite impressed. It allows you to sign into a variety of IM softwares, importing your contacts at the click of a button, you can store music, save or share files (with unlimited storage), upload videos from YouTube onto your desktop…and that’s just what I’ve discovered in a 10 minute test drive! Although it’s not immediately user friendly and will probably take a bit of getting used to, it’s a good example of how – rather ironically! – Web 2.0 technology can be used to address the digital divide. Jooce’s tagline? ‘Power to the People’!

The positives:

I think public libraries, and also academic libraries could really benefit from software like this. Or even in school libraries – there’ll never be an excuse for forgotten homework again! I can see this being a real boon to study – how often did I get into uni only to discover I’d left my memory stick at home? In public libraries, it allows people who may not have a PC at home to benefit from the same perks as PC owners.

The negatives:

One foreseeable problem is that Jooce make their money by advertising and therefore if libraries begin to advocate such software they will need to make users aware that the advertisements are in no way connected to the library, however I feel the benefits outweigh the negatives here.

Another bugbear is the privacy issue. Jooce’s T&Cs can be found here It seems they pretty much use everything about you to tailor their advertising, and are not averse to sharing your information with ‘trusted partners’. Worrying.

At the minute I’m undecided – there are other similar softwares, and although I’ve not played with them yet I think it’s a pretty safe bet that they’ll have the same perks and problems as Jooce. However with safe and educated use, I’d say they could definitely be useful. I can see these developing in the future – who knows maybe someday someone will invent a library based one where your information is protected and you’re not bombarded with advertisements!