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Longevity of Google+

K

kuykee

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 20, 2010
10
0
Hey guys,

Lately I have been using Google+ instant upload in the Google+ app for iOS. It's a cool way to backup my photos in my camera roll and its fast and can be done over wifi (so I don't need to be clogging up my Macbook hard disk with files, or feel weird and insecure about having it on an external hard disk which can fail).

But lately I have been wondering about the longevity of Google+. What if Google decides to pull the plug on it? Then will the photos I have uploaded to Google servers on my Google+ account be under threat of deletion? I know the system is similar to Picasa Web Albums, so maybe the Google+ photos I have uploaded will just be downgraded to a Picasa Web Albums interface if Google decides to deactivate Google+. I really hope they dont cause its cool and cute and its nice to know there are alternatives to hegemonic Facebook who I also love so much (seriously though, no sarcasm/irony).

Anyway

Basically: how safe/secure is it to continue backing up/storing photos on Google+ ? (using instant upload on iPhone instead of Apple's photostream)
 
Personally, I use dropbox. It backs up photos and videos....they give you 3GB for free and it is $99 to upgrade to 100GB. IMO that is way cheaper than buying that same amount of storage in another fashion.

google+ is not that popular in terms of a social network, but it does offer different things as you pointed out which may stretch its life span
 
I wouldn't worry about Google throwing out G+. If anything, they're doubling down on it. It's quickly being tied into everything Google related because Google wants to get every Google user to use G+ to take on FB. I closed my FB account and use G+ now because its not as personal, I don't have to see every detail of everyone's life, I can organize people into circles each with their own settings, and now with communities I can go see interesting content on subjects I care about. It's definitely not as popular as FB but I think people are slowly catching on and are just getting tired of FB in general.
 
Frankied22 said:
I wouldn't worry about Google throwing out G+. If anything, they're doubling down on it. It's quickly being tied into everything Google related because Google wants to get every Google user to use G+ to take on FB. I closed my FB account and use G+ now because its not as personal, I don't have to see every detail of everyone's life, I can organize people into circles each with their own settings, and now with communities I can go see interesting content on subjects I care about. It's definitely not as popular as FB but I think people are slowly catching on and are just getting tired of FB in general.
Click to expand...

This. Exactly.

Google+ IS Google's future. It is not going away.
 
I don't think G+ is going anywhere. They just enhanced it. Yeah it's not that popular, and the usage stats are totally distorted to make it seem like its doing well when it's really not, but I doubt google is really loosing anything significant by keeping it up and running. The thing about G+ is that it serves as a great infrastructure- now that the groundwork is laid, google can add too and take away as they see fit. I can see it becoming more of a personal interface to your files and news over an actual social network.

It's a shame because I think google plus destroys Facebook in every way. It's cleaner, easier to customize, the mobile apps run better, etc. And oddly enough I think Facebook is a lot shadier than google. I still use Facebook because literally only two of my friends use G+ so it's not effective as a social network for me right now.
 
kuykee said:
Hey guys

Basically: how safe/secure is it to continue backing up/storing photos on Google+ ? (using instant upload on iPhone instead of Apple's photostream)
Click to expand...

More safe than using a company that you only heard of yesterday.
Less safe than using an established company where photo backup is there main or only product. I use Dropbox for my tiny photo storage requirements and they almost fall into the latter category.


Just make sure you know how to get your pics out and that it is somewhat practical if you ever need to.
 
I wouldn't worry so much about the longevity of Google+. Their current model has it at the center of most of their services, so I really do think it is there now for as long as Google is.

That said, I wouldn't use Google+ as a fail safe for your photos. Connect to the computer and off load them there every so often and then do a proper backup somewhere.
 
I ashamed to say, I'm still trying to figure out G+ and work out how it would best work for me. Facebook is fine for personal stuff but G+ looks like something between Facebook and Twitter. My biggest problem with G+ at the moment is that one or two of the corporates I follow post none stop and drown out everyone else.

I used the Feedback outlets made available at the beginning of G+ to ask that Google implement some simple set arithmetic when dealing with circles. They don't seem to have done that yet....
 
Frankied22 said:
I wouldn't worry about Google throwing out G+. If anything, they're doubling down on it. It's quickly being tied into everything Google related because Google wants to get every Google user to use G+ to take on FB. I closed my FB account and use G+ now because its not as personal, I don't have to see every detail of everyone's life, I can organize people into circles each with their own settings, and now with communities I can go see interesting content on subjects I care about. It's definitely not as popular as FB but I think people are slowly catching on and are just getting tired of FB in general.
Click to expand...

+1. Personally I don't use either, but I'd rather use Google+ than... Facebook...
 
ugahairydawgs said:
I wouldn't worry so much about the longevity of Google+. Their current model has it at the center of most of their services, so I really do think it is there now for as long as Google is.

That said, I wouldn't use Google+ as a fail safe for your photos. Connect to the computer and off load them there every so often and then do a proper backup somewhere.
Click to expand...

that is kind of my thought on it.
You can always go with multiple options like I do.

My set up is Google+ and dropbox for the instant uploads. Anything in dropbox is automatically pushed to my computers which every so often I back up on to an external.
Basicly multiple back up and multiple locations to pull the stuff from.
 
mattopotamus said:
Personally, I use dropbox. It backs up photos and videos....they give you 3GB for free and it is $99 to upgrade to 100GB. IMO that is way cheaper than buying that same amount of storage in another fashion.

google+ is not that popular in terms of a social network, but it does offer different things as you pointed out which may stretch its life span
Click to expand...

If it was permanent storage I'd buy it, I just don't like paying monthly/yearly bills.
 
kuykee said:
Anyway

Basically: how safe/secure is it to continue backing up/storing photos on Google+ ? (using instant upload on iPhone instead of Apple's photostream)
Click to expand...


read google's TOS.
witness what instagram did
read iCloud's TOS

make decision.


I'm not touching google instant upload

----------
MonkeySee.... said:
What's Google+?
Click to expand...

Good question.

Even google don't seem to know yet.

they're firing money in all directions trying to turn it into something, but not much has stuck yet.

I'm on G+, but other than android adverts, and Linux promotion, i don't see a lot of content there.


Sure, i'm constantly hit with samsung ads on facebook too, but at least i have friends with active accounts there.
 
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