Not to Rain on the Cloud, but Google Gdrive Is Hardly All-Powerful
It was mysterious and kind of cool a few years ago. When bloggers started reporting about the Google Gdrive, an online storage service that would house all of its users' data, it sparked discussion about a number of possibilities. What if Google began offering its millions of users of search, Google Apps and other Web services a place to store their online data, the virtual equivalent of a place to eat, breathe and sleep data? According to an analyst day report from Googlers:
This would hardly be out of reach given Google's well-known glut of infrastructure, including a reported 1 million servers, and sophisticated parallel programming platform and file system. In 2006, the idea seemed magical. Today, not so much. See, what Gdrive seems to be is an online storage service like any other at a time when cloud computing has become commoditized, showing up in everyday high-tech parlance rather than just as a fringe buzzword. As Om Malik notes, we're even calling cheaper PCs that don't come with Microsoft Office bundles "netbooks," short for cloud client machines. Tony Ruscoe, who puts together the latest pieces of the Gdrive (with code names like Cosmo and Amethyst replacing or augmenting "Platypus") puzzle here at Google Blogoscoped notes:
Google Operating System's Alex Chitu chimes in:
Assuming the sleuthing of my intrepid blogger peers is true, Gdrive appears to be one part online storage service, not unlike EMC's Mozy or Box.net. In the second part, Gdrive appears to be an online workspace; with Google Docs as the front end, Gdrive has the feel of Microsoft Live Workspace or Symantec's new GoEverywhere online workspace. Instead of just offering the productivity suite without a back end or a storage depot without a front door like most solution providers, Google has in Google Docs and Gdrive a potentially nice one-two punch: a complete cloud computing collaboration platform. But as I alluded to earlier, this wouldn't be novel or game-changing, it would just join the hundreds of other Web-based productivity suites and online file repositories out there in the cloud computing-ruled universe. Google's Google Chrome Web browser has much more significant potential for market ramifications. So, let's just relax and take a deep breath. The question is, first, whether people are willing to pay for this service (assuming Google charges) and, second, whether people are willing to trust even more data from their personal lives to one aggregated online well. Think about all the data Google already has about us from our use of its Web search. Now think about how much data Google can gather on us through Gmail. So Google knows what we search for and (don't give me the anonymity malarkey, I realize Google claims it doesn't officially tie our searches and identities together) what we look at while we're in Gmail as consumers. Gdrive, if it is what it's cracked up to be, could be the new place where Google gathers info on what we like to do from a productivity standpoint -- what Flickr photos, YouTube videos and Docs files we like to play with or share. That's another avenue Google could use in its pursuit of ways to harvest data to provide better ads. Some of our journalist and blogger peers are predicting a more audacious stroke for Gdrive. For example, this piece in the Guardian projects that Gdrive will be the product that will kill PCs. Well, no. You still need some sort of client device from which to access your Google-held files, so a desktop, laptop, netbook or smartphone is a prerequisite. So the Gdrive issue seems to be less about killing client devices and hard drives than it is about shredding user privacy. Would you use Gdrive? Before you answer, consider this point: If you're reading this, you probably already use Google search and Gmail. Would letting Google store all of your Web data make you nervous? More here, on TechMeme. |
Comments (16)
I'll be interested as soon as Google (or Microsoft, or Yahoo!, or anyone else offering free storage online) allows users to connect to that storage via WebDAV over https. Until then, no thank you - I don't need my storage to be tied to specific apps!
Posted by Rick | January 27, 2009 1:43 PM
I agree that this is not a novel idea or service. And the prospect of Google owning ALL of your data is really freaky in the Orwellian sense of the term. Move over NSA - Google now has more info on you than the government does.
Posted by Anime Girl | January 27, 2009 1:44 PM
I've been long awaiting the release of this service... Starting using the GDrive firefox extension a while back... but that fizzled out when i realized the way it simply was email the files to my inbox. And i have No reservations about storing my data on a Google server... heck you're kidding yourself if your 30 dollar firewall and anti-virus will stop someone who really wants the data where as Googles survival solely depends on keeping the data safe and secure and spend billion on making sure that happens. Sure they will mine it for info, but who cares. as long as i don't see impacts on my credit report or start getting junk email and snail mail i could really care less. Having all my data in one central accessible organized location is more important to me the anonymous data mining. Plus i enjoy seeing the ads that match what i'm doing and who i am. It brings me to new services, equipment, ect that i never knew existed.
Posted by Craig Misak | January 27, 2009 2:06 PM
You're missing one thing... Google's service will be rock solid reliable, whereas the "hundreds" of services out there offering overlapping services aren't nearly as stable... Also, Google has revenue and massive profits to keep the system growing and promote it.
The only thing hampering Google IMHO is their refusal to market themselves... Not many people think of Google beyond search and I don't see that they've done enough to change that perception.
Posted by Robert Bullock | January 27, 2009 2:41 PM
"Would letting Google store all of your Web data make you nervous?"
To answer that question: no. I trust Google more than ANY other online service provider. Why? Because they have so much to lose by violating that trust.
Posted by Robert Bullock | January 27, 2009 2:42 PM
Robert:
I agree. That's something I've argued for the last 18 months.
Posted by Clint Boulton
| January 27, 2009 2:46 PM
I have be another echo to Robert Bullock's "no". In fact, my hunch is that we could all find Google even more vastly useful if we (1) knew of all their applications and (2) could change our own MIF habits (machine-interfacing) to leverage them.
However, monopolies are ultimately counter-productive. I try to assist Google from becoming another "too big to fail" burden by using Chrome and PRISM to create desktop browser applets of sites I find useful. And while several are Google-rooted, most are not. If these tools allow cross-population of info, I enable it and thus have data redundancy. So if one tool fails, I have another to go to.
Posted by Chaochou2 | January 27, 2009 3:06 PM
I am not too worried about the GDrive concept as it has been going on for a while now. My only concern lies in the fact that if they so desired the government could subpoena Google for your information and there it all is. Also, what about the Midwest? I mean this as what happens to towns where a high-speed connection is not available? Do these people just start uploading their hard drives and come back in 6 months to see that it is 45% done?
Posted by Chris | January 27, 2009 3:41 PM
Give me a break with your precious privacy issue, morons.
What privacy? You afraid that the gov can subpoena goog.....so what? Who the hell you think you are? Who the hell cares what site you look at while jerrking off? Who cares who`s wife you f-ing with? Your privacy? What are you? A vicepresident? I laugh when I read about f-ing thousands small morons worring about their privacy........you are nobody and nobody cares about your nothingness in your life and your precious privacy.
Posted by lubomir | January 27, 2009 4:03 PM
Lubomir:
Fascinating, nihilistic rant. Enjoy The Big Lebowski much?
Posted by Clint Boulton
| January 27, 2009 4:08 PM
so... is this actually coming to pass or is it just another "what if/when" story? the GDrive story has been around for so long.
If the option for backing up 100% is there, it doesnt mean you have to back up 100%, does it. Just upload whatever you're happy with :)
PJ
Posted by PJ | January 27, 2009 4:56 PM
There is not much new in what they might offer, and what they can offer to the masses might bring new features for Gdocs or Gmail, would be a compromise on other features already developed by existing storage providers.
I've used FA (filesanywhere.com) for years - they already have a WebDAV network drive. They also hook into Zoho for doc editing and Picnik for photos, they have protected folder sharing, web faxing, online file viewing, video/music streaming, local/remote sync, etc. So you can already use existing services for just about everything.
Privacy? Encrypt your Excel files before you upload them or use FA's Blowfish encryption option to encrypt any kind of file before it gets uploaded.
Stability? Yes, before trusting your only copy of the novel you are writing to cloud storage, you probably want to take a backup! You also want to go with remote storage that is time-tested. Sites like filesanywhere have been around for many years and they have already proven their stability. And the ones that operate profitably are making it because of their stability, performance and uptime.
Take a good look around at the options that are already available before jumping onto the next beta product (or in this case - vaporware!).
-M
Posted by Meredith | January 27, 2009 8:08 PM
@lubomir: The need to protect the right to privacy has nothing to do with the need for privacy.
Posted by alphadog | January 28, 2009 9:27 AM
The problem with the Google de facto monopoly on search is that they hide things (and people) they don't like. They also change history in some cases. Caution and vigilance is needed for all liberty. SK
Posted by Sam King | January 28, 2009 1:27 PM
I'm trying to think of a single document on my personal PC that I haven't emailed to someone (via Gmail). Maybe my vast array of pictures, but of course, the good ones are already online (with Google).
So, having the files online without the context of the text in the email is actually less useful than what is there now.
So, I trust gmail ergo I trust Google.
Posted by Gareth P | January 28, 2009 11:50 PM
What do we know in regards to file size limits vs. overall storage limits? Gmail likes to show off your 10gb+ storage space, but no single file can be over...is it 200mb? In regards to safety, I have no worries about Google's ability to protect my data. I have such confidence in their products at this point that it would take a serious hit for me to even consider looking elsewhere.
Posted by Encryption Software | November 4, 2009 10:47 AM