Google Launches Google Drive Cloud Storage Service

Do you want to give Google even more of your information? If you do this is great

Been a Dropbox user since the beginning... works great across all my products... iDevices, Mac's and Windows

I really hope Apple comes out with a file system in the cloud. iCloud is not complete without this feature.

Google also silently discontinued the old "Google Storage" plans. The $5 for 20GB/year plan is gone, it has been replaced by a 25GB option for $2.49 PER MONTH! Thats a ~6-fold increase in pricing

No interest in the product itself, but if it compels Dropbox to lower their prices in the future, that can't hurt….

:rolleyes:

I use and like Dropbox: it's robust and works well, but ...

When I share an individual file by publishing it's URL (copy link) to someone, when they open a file, like a video, on Mac, it plays the video. If they don't have QT Pro, they can't download it. I often want to share videos (my own, nothing copyrighted by others), and Dropbox makes that more difficult. I supposed I could just ZIP the video first, as iDisk does, but that's yet another step. They should deal with this issue.

Second, if I share a folder, there are two issues:
1. When someone else attached to it, we BOTH pay for the storage used - Dropbox counts the same bits twice. So, if I share a folder, then one of my sharees decides to move a bunch of c**p into into it because he's not a computer nerd like me, I go above my quota and have to tell him to get that stuff away. There's no way to restrict access (see #2)

Maybe that's OK if we both have read/write/delete access to the files ... but ...

2. Often files just disappear from my shared folders. Why? Because the most common use of these shared files if for people to drag them onto their hard drives for whatever reasons. And on Mac, that's a "move" not a "copy." So the file vanishes from Dropbox.

So I spend time warning my users not to do that, etc. What Dropbox needs is folder access types: full sharing for collaboration, partial sharing (read/write/delete, but not ADD files); and read only sharing (users can copy the files if they want, but can't make any changes)

iDisk was slower, but I could accomplish those goals easily enough.

LOL - According to the terms, Google owns and reserves the right to use EVERYTHING on your Google Drive!

http://cl.ly/1W2h1A163p0W2A3C0M0q


Have fun having your info taken :)


via @sydlawrence

This is in the fine print for Google Drive, makes you think twice about it:

Image (http://f.cl.ly/items/1y3q3t2i0y1m3x2I1h47/Screen%20Shot%202012-04-24%20at%202.11.35%20PM.png)

Looks familiar... ;)

iCloud TOS
http://www.apple.com/legal/icloud/en/terms.html

Except for material we may license to you, Apple does not claim ownership of the materials and/or Content you submit or make available on the Service. However, by submitting or posting such Content on areas of the Service that are accessible by the public or other users with whom you consent to share such Content, you grant Apple a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available, without any compensation or obligation to you.

All storage service providers have similar clauses.

Here are SkyDrive's terms. (Covered under Windows Live TOS.)
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/microsoft-service-agreement

Except for material that we license to you, we don't claim ownership of the content you provide on the service. Your content remains your content. We also don't control, verify, or endorse the content that you and others make available on the service.
You control who may access your content. If you share content in public areas of the service or in shared areas available to others you've chosen, then you agree that anyone you've shared content with may use that content. When you give others access to your content on the service, you grant them free, nonexclusive permission to use, reproduce, distribute, display, transmit, and communicate to the public the content solely in connection with the service and other products and services made available by Microsoft. If you don't want others to have those rights, don't use the service to share your content.
You understand that Microsoft may need, and you hereby grant Microsoft the right, to use, modify, adapt, reproduce, distribute, and display content posted on the service solely to the extent necessary to provide the service.

I have to admit, I kind of agree with Steve Jobs when he told Dropbox that their problem is that this is more of a feature than an actual standalone product. When big companies start to enter the game, now Microsoft and Google, they will be a major threat for Dropbox. Add to that Apple that probably will come back with a similar functionality for iCloud (and hoping it will work better than iDisk), Dropbox will have to reinvent itself.

However, I use Dropbox and I really love it. But if Google offer me same functionality and cheaper expansion possibility. (Dropbox doesn't offer anything below 10$ a month, 10$ for 50GB) Google offer 25GB for 2.50$ a month, or 100GB for 5$ a Month, I will really consider switching.

I use Dropbox and SkyDrive. Google knows enough about me, the last thing they'll ever get is my files although I do keep a copy of my music library with Match.