Easy file sharing effectively was killed by network security back in the 1990s. In times of Windows 95 it wasn't too hard to share, if you forget about endless

Easy file sharing effectively was killed by network security back in the 1990s. In times of Windows 95 it wasn't too hard to share, if you forget about endless bugs, glitches and inadequacy in detecting computers around you in early versions of Windows. Since Microsoft realized security their networking has become even less adequate and less usable. The best solution I came up with for my family was, so far, Skype. The fact that Skype is closed source and I otherwise wouldn't use it is regrettable, but it gets sharing right. In fact, better than anything else that I know. Every time a family member wants to share something with me - a link or a file - my answer is short: open Skype, click on my name, grab the file and drop it "onto me". Most importantly, very little prior setup is needed: actually downloading Skype and opening an account, which novice users and kids who can't write usually need assistance in anyway. Once set up, Skype communication works even if you move to a different location. Actually any point in the world. All in all, this is genius and simple in such a degree that a 3-4 year old child, if not younger, can understand and do easily. Thankfully, Skype establishes direct connections between computers, although honestly I don't know how exactly this works behind the same NAT/firewall device, which is usually your WiFi router. Back to Apple and Paul Buccheit, of course Paul gets the problem right as usual, I just wonder if Steve Jobs and his team think the same way. Something suggests Apple should be thinking in the same direction and so my expectations from iWhateverIsNext are high. Edit: I just realized that there's actually one slight paradigm shift that makes sharing easier with Skype: that's a shift from sharing between computers to sharing between people. You have a person's name possibly (and better) with his/her picture. This works so much better than the archaic "computer name", "workgroup" or whatever else. What "workgroup" in my own house?