online productivity

Going from the home or library's pc's software to what is available free of charge on the Web is such an exciting and great tool!
In checking out "Zoho", and docs.Google, I thought the options they offered were amazing. They both had tutorials on using the site, and I watched the Zoho planner video and think it was well done and informative. It definitely sounded easy to use.
The only concern I have using an on-line tool like these would be the problem it creates when the Internet is down. The accessing of that daily plan information would create such a problem! I remember an occasion when my husband worked for IBM and their network was down for an entire day. No one, secretary or engineer, knew or remembered what meetings were set-up or even where they were because of their dependency on the on-line calendar. It was a day they never forgot!
Even with the possible glitches, I did like the collaborative aspect of these sites because their application in a work-setting looks like it would be very useful to people who cannot be in the same place at the same time. If an assignment is given that involves a group, then it has to be easier to access the information at any time on any computer. I especially like the elimination of the e-mail and attachment aspect. However, in not having actually collaborated on anything like this, I wonder what the problems would be? Or would it go back to that old saying about "too many cooks" and that this would in chaos and disagreements? It would be an interesting experiment to try.
I also looked at RedKid.Net because it looked like fun and, okay, it was like my blog name! The fact that the site had e-mail capabilities was great because it might be useful to the many patons we get that may only need to send a message in a one time situation. For them to not have to go through the sometimes overwhelmingly complicated process of signing up for a Yahoo or Hotmail account would make it so much easier on them... and us!