Google Launches Google Drive Cloud Storage Service

[ArtOfWarfare]

That ability to open documents for apps you don't have sounds pretty nifty, but given the files I share with other people are always Word documents, I don't think I need it and I'll probably just stick with Dropbox...

As for people saying Apple should take a stab at this, I suspect it's on their list. A few months ago there was an article about how Steve Jobs had approached Dropbox and offered to buy them for $800M. When Dropbox turned down the offer, I suspect Apple began looking into making the feature on their own. Maybe it'll be a big feature of iOS 6 / a new feature to reveal about ML at WWDC? (Speaking of which, where the heck is iOS 6? Hadn't Apple been revealing new iOS versions in February/March each year? They're late this year and I haven't so much as heard any rumors about it!)

[wikus]

Originally Posted by bushido

its really buggy on my mac O.o my finder doesnt respons and if it does, it ends up looking like this. cant click anywhere

Image

Those sidebar icons look all the same. Apple should go back to the coloured ones in Lion/Mountain Lion.

[lancerx78]

You can log into the the Dropbox web interface and "un-delete" a file that someone removed. I believe they store deleted files for thirty days.

Originally Posted by Boisv

It was worse in the beginning, before I realized what was happening. I'd shrug it off as a glitch, and go to repost... only to find that it isn't on my computer anymore! It had been moved to Dropbox! Then I'm calling the first person who responded, to tell them they have the only copy.*

*If anyone has any sort of workaround for this, I'm all ears.

[BRLawyer]

Originally Posted by GoGa

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That's absolutely ridiculous; "evil" does not even come close to what Google determines through these open-ended "permissions"...to create "derivative works" out of my OWN FILES? Are they effing crazy?

[The Man]

Not going Google Drive. Google knows enough about me. Even though I use Dropbox, because I use free version I'm a bit hesitant. Nothing comes for free.

[gotluck]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

That's absolutely ridiculous; "evil" does not even come close to what Google determines through these open-ended "permission"...to create "derivative works" out of my OWN FILES? Are they effing crazy?

Wow, I'm no lawyer but that does sound pretty terrible.

This is not coming from a google hater either.

[JBytes]

Originally Posted by phigment

...Box.com for the win.

I second that! I swear by it.

[tdhurst]

Originally Posted by edoates

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.

It's a folder that syncs. That's why it works so well. No need to screw it up by adding tons of options that will confuse most of the users.

[Bigredhawkeye]

I'll take the 5GB of free storage. Pair that with my 2.5GB of free Dropbox storage and I can keep pretty much all of my college work in the cloud for free.

[Renzatic]

Originally Posted by Boisv

So yeah, IMO Dropbox is crap. C-R-A-P.

One problem (which is admittedly a fairly big one) doesn't make the entire service crap.

I just switched over to Skydrive because, hey, 25GB for free! While I'm finding it all pretty nice overall (and the iOS app is much, much slicker than the Dropbox equivalent) there are still a ton of little things I miss from the transition. Like if I want to get a URL for a picture or file, all I have to do is rightclick with Dropbox running, and there it is. In Skydrive, I have to log into the website, and jump through a bunch of hoops just to get a link. And the links themselves? HUGE! Dropbox basically worked like an FTP site. I had a common name and everything. Once I got around to remembering the numbers and whatnots that correspond to my account, all I had to do was drop a picture into the public folder, then type out http://dl.dropbox.com/u/buncha_numbers/picturename.jpg (this isn't a real link). I can't do that on Skydrive. And it sucks. It's more about embedding crap into blogs than hosting up links.

So hell. I'm just gonna use them both. One for redundant storage and Cloud BS, and the other for hosting files and projects.

And Google's answer to it? Meh. Might be pretty decent, but I'm already well covered by the above mentioned. It doesn't offer anything the others lack, so I don't really have much of a reason to switch.

[Xultar]

Originally Posted by Boisv

And that is exactly why I stopped using Dropbox. It's a shame too, because it's a great service apart from that. Whether I was dealing with collaborators or clients, I got tired of having to include Dropbox instructions every time I placed something.

I'd email five people on a team that I posted something. The first person would respond, "Great! I got it!" The next four people would respond, "No file. Where is it?"

It was worse in the beginning, before I realized what was happening. I'd shrug it off as a glitch, and go to repost... only to find that it isn't on my computer anymore! It had been moved to Dropbox! Then I'm calling the first person who responded, to tell them they have the only copy.*

So yeah, IMO Dropbox is crap. C-R-A-P.

And sadly Box.net isn't any better. Their 2GB file cap makes it useless for video professionals.

*If anyone has any sort of workaround for this, I'm all ears.

How can it be Dropbox be crap or it is their fault that the people you let share the folder don't know shared drive etiquette and to copy the file instead of dragging it?

I don't understand that.

In almost any situation, users should know to copy the file and not drag in a shared situation, right?

Also, people just don't read instructions for anything. So, I don't think that is Dropbox, cloud storage or a shared drive administrator's fault that people don't work in a shared environment well. No way a company can create a product that is completely user #fail proof.

Working in clouds is new and people sharing cloud storage is new. Once people learn the ropes it'll get better. But we had the same growing pains with shared folders back in the day.

[benpatient]

Originally Posted by phigment

Box.com does all of this already, with none of the cons listed by the dropbox user. You can set permissions so that certain users can only view, download, edt, etc.... nobody will be deleting data from your shared folders unless you permit them to. Box.com for the win.

I got a free 50GB storage pool at Box.com through my android phone, and I have used it exactly once, because individual file size is limited to 100MB. That's a complete and total deal-breaker for me.

[Lone Deranger]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

providing users with 5GB of free storage integrated with Google Docs and other Google services.

Disclaimer: As long as you don't mind us sniffing thoroughly through your data to seek out better ways to target bomb you with ever more advertisements.

[Mac21ND]

I don't trust Google!



[Sent from my Gmail Account using Chrome.]

[bijju]

no thanks , Dropbox works great.

[tigres]

Originally Posted by rikscha

I can hardly bare the stupidity of some people here in the forum and I am wondering why you are on a mac anyway when you cannot understand icloud. Icloud is apples way of finally getting rid of a file system. Not today or tomorrow.It will evolve over the next couple of years and will surely never have such a outdated "feature" as syncable folders. Believing Apple made a wrong move getting rid of iDisk or not further evolving it shows how little you understand about Apple. Apple is already 2 steps ahead and skips the hype of syncable folders over the next 2 years. I don't want to deal with files in folders anymore. It is 2012.

Good lord champ, enlighten us. So I don't have to use .doc's or .pdf's any more in 12'?

I do feel stupid. Show me the way....

[Thunderhawks]

Originally Posted by bushido

its really buggy on my mac O.o my finder doesnt respons and if it does, it ends up looking like this. cant click anywhere

Image

Es versteht kein Deutsch.

[BaldiMac]

Originally Posted by edoates

You're a little harsh in your wording, but if iCloud supported all file type imaginable, you might be correct. BUt it doesn't, and a big one is missing: html and other web browser type files. Apple has a limited number of file types it supports in icloud (iwork, pics, some videos, music) for applications it mostly supplies. But the world is bigger than that

Out of curiosity, why couldn't a third party developer use iCloud to sync "html and other web browser type files"? Or are you talking about something else?

[Mattie Num Nums]

I honestly don't care if people know what I search for as long as it helps the products I buy get better.

Originally Posted by BaldiMac

Out of curiosity, why couldn't a third party developer use iCloud to sync "html and other web browser type files"? Or are you talking about something else?

Apple sets strict guidelines on using anything. MDM is a prime example. MDM is brilliant until Apple puts in the clause that users must be able to remove themselves at any time without admin rights. Whats the use of MDM then at that point!

[kjs862]

Originally Posted by Takeo

As a developer... I agree. It's essential. But for the average consumer... I think Apple's vision is to remove the file system everywhere.

Then why is Dropbox doing so well? I suspect the majority of Dropbox users aren't developers.

I understand Apple's vision, but for now, it's incomplete.

[ixodes]

Originally Posted by sconnor99

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

Too late, Google already has as much information as they want on anyone already.

People who doubt this are only kidding themselves.

Welcome to 2012

[Renzatic]

Originally Posted by BRLawyer

That's absolutely ridiculous; "evil" does not even come close to what Google determines through these open-ended "permissions"...to create "derivative works" out of my OWN FILES? Are they effing crazy?

Legalese always makes things sound worse than what it actually is. That's basically a "hey, if someone takes one of the files you've posted online through a Google account, and uses it for some incredibly awkward Sonic The Hedgehog fanfiction, you can't sue us over it" clause.

[Flitzy]

Google doesn't do things for the consumer anymore - they do things to secure more and more of your information for advertisers.

Rational people should be very wary of this.

[ObjectiveV]

Not Apple news or a rumor. Only posted so that Apple fans can insult the competition and use the rolleyes emoticon.

[SteveSwish]

I use Dropbox right now and really all I'm currently using it for is to share and backup my photos and videos between my android and macbook... and since Google Drive gives 5GB as opposed to Dropbox's 2.8GB (after incentive bonus') its worth considering a switch.