Wouldn't this be great? Google Inc. (GOOG) is preparing to offer online storage to Web users, creating a mirror image of data stored on consumer hard drives, according to company documents that were mistakenly released on the Web.This isn't some kind of fake out, either.
When asked to confirm plans for a GDrive, a Google spokeswoman declined to comment on any specific service but confirmed that presentation containing the notes had been mistakenly released on the Web.The main point is pretty clear:
"With infinite storage, we can house all user files, including e-mails, Web history, pictures, bookmarks, etc., and make it accessible from anywhere (any device, any platform, etc)," the notes in the original Google presentation state.I'm not quite sure what that last line means - it sounds a little overambitious and strange, but in a sense it's a wonderful concept. Users would now have a way to back everything up off their own computers, which would be huge.
Chief Executive Eric Schmidt in his presentation made a cryptic comment that one goal of Google was to "store 100 percent" of consumer information.
In a sense, though, bloggers are already doing this, especially those on BlogSpot. We're storing incredible amounts of information (even if most of it is simple text) online for free. If you keep something as a draft, nobody else can see it, either. It's the not the greatest storage place, but it's a pretty good one. I've often wondered about storing other files online for easy and quick access; Google is apparently still working out the kinks on this. But if it would be as fast to get to as my hard drive, or even remotely close... I'd be pretty happy.
Once, someone created their own GDrive program by using Google mail and a simple piece of software that mounted the mail in a special format to make it look like a local drive - one that you could share with your other machines,and it was password-protected. It held 2 gig. Unfortunately, Google changed their mail protocol and it no longer works; but obviously Google took notice.
ReplyDeleteEoZ - Cool! Smart guy...
ReplyDeleteGT - It sounds like they can have it pretty fast for those people with high-speed internet, but I'm sure the reason they're not officially announcing it is to work out the kinks; this likely being the most important factor.
This does sound cool, but I'm with XVI in my worries abotu the security risks. I mean, I would think it would make it very easy to spider everything, and pick up a ton of informaiton on a ton of people, including people who did not necessarily make submissions themselves, in a very short amount of time. On the flip side, for a traveller like me it would be tremendously useful.
ReplyDeleteI'd wait and see how secure it is before even thinking about using it, but the idea is still excellent. I wouldn't mind keeping media files and the like on a GDrive while keeping more important files on my own hard drive.
ReplyDeleteYes, this is wise. Take all your data and upload it to a server where system admins can access all your personal files.
ReplyDeleteIf you're really paranoid, buy a swapable drive bay and two drives, and carry one drive with you at all times after backing up.
Or get a Mac mini and keep it in your bag!
Mordechai, call me nuts, but I've been saving back-ups of my most important files in Yahoo e-mail for years. The downside is that, every now and then, dem bums close an account for no discernible reason and delete everything in it. My son gave me a flash drive (well "gave" is a relative term--I probably paid for it in the first place :) ), so I have the most important files backed up there, too.
ReplyDeleteThe plus side of using e-mail for storage is that hackers wouldn't think to look for information there, whereas a site that's specifically set up for storage would be a prime target. Of course, I may be hopelessly naive about e-mail being a safe storage place.
Sally,
ReplyDeletee-mail's nominally better than a storage site, yes. A Google storage site is like painting a giant target saying "Hack us! Hack us NOW!"
Ezzie,
ReplyDeleteGood pick-up! Along similar lines, I've been watching recently as Google attempts to re-create Microsoft Office online...