Google Docs failing to save a document

There I was, working away on a Google Docs file, enjoying the whole “cloud computing” idea. I type data into my browser, magic happens and it gets stored somewhere. Using any other PC I can edit the data.

And it’s great until it breaks, then you can lose data and there’s nothing that can be done. For reasons unknown to me the login cookie expired while editing a document on Google Docs. I didn’t notice this until pressing ‘Save’ gave me the error you see in the image.

If you see this error, you’re pretty much screwed since there is no way to save your data locally if the network goes down, your browser has a fit, or something else breaks the delicate link between your PC and the almighty Google. You just sort of have to keep the browser open and hope things fix themselves.

Which is kind of crap if you want to switch your PC off for the night.

Fortunately I tried to load Docs up in a second tab and it asked me to log in again, solving the problem.

They do need some sort of “emergency” backup option though for when the network really does go down. I’ve not lost data due to my PC locking up for years because pressing Ctrl-S is usually guaranteed to work. Google won’t be scaring Microsoft if basic things like printing and saving don’t work properly…