The explosion of mobile devices has gone a really long way to freeing computer users from their desks, and letting them roam in the open, while still engaging and collaborating in many of the same ways they do in more traditional computer environments. Yet there are other ways as well by which you can take your work with you, while leaving your desktop computer or laptop at home. Portable apps are one such example.
This video covers portable apps, including what they are, how you install them, and why you might use them. A variety of portable application frameworks are available, but in this particular case I used http://portableapps.com.
This is not to say that portable apps are better or worse than something like an iPhone or a Blackberry, they’re just another option worth bearing in mind if you find yourself needing a lightweight way to take your work with you.
Sorry about the audio quality; I’m apparently louder than I thought. Must be the American in me 
Good stuff, thanks. Still happy to have my iPhone though, but I can see some use for this, and with USB sticks getting bigger and bigger and memory getting cheaper this will be a useful tool for some.
Any knowledge on using a cloud based OS with all your own custom files and programs on it?
Q: Any knowledge on using a cloud based OS with all your own custom files and programs on it?
A: No not really. There are online Office Suites (Zoho, Google Docs, Adobe’s Acrobat suite), video editing tools (Kaltura, JayCut), image editors (Picnic, Pixlr), presumably online audio editors, and a variety of other tools, all of which are really handy to have access to, but they tend not to offer much in the way of customisation options in the same way offline client-side software does.
As far as the iPhone/Blackberry goes, yeah there is a definite value for those types of technologies in that they allow constant connectivity for email, SMS, image capture, and other things, whereas with portable apps you’re still reliant on access to a laptop or desktop. So I think there’s plenty of room for both really.
Personally I find the touchpad on the iPod Touch to be an absolutely tedious experience to use. I occasionally use the notepad to plan my to-do list on the way in work in the mornings, but I gave up trying to compose more long-form content a long, long time ago. WordPress has a free application for the iPhone, but I only used it twice because the writing process was excruciating with my fat fingers.
Generally I don’t use portable apps much because I have my laptop with me for long form stuff or custom programs, and my (albeit clunky OLD) mobile for SMS and email, but I do see potential uses for it nonetheless.
One thought I had was if you were to install it on an older generation iPod (which enables disc-use), you could conceivably use the iPod with a mic attachment to record voice notes or audio lectures, and then include portable apps with the Audacity option to enable you to edit the recordings from anywhere.