Throw your hard drive away, Google's Gdrive arriving in 2009

Google Drive, or Gdrive as it is better known, has to be the most anticipated Google product so far. When it arrives, Gdrive will likely cause a major paradigm shift in how we use computers and bring Google one step closer to dethroning Windows on your desktop.

[Sasanova]

god i hope this becomes compatible with my ps3...bout to have a major upgrade

[ThanatosDMC]

I'm not sure about this one... i like my downloaded goods i got for free....

[Capt CHAOS]

It's major selling point, I can achieve via google docs. Still would be good to be able to have low cost hardware at different places and share the entire OS, setup, music and video, though it might be a bit slower.

[phosphor112]

bandwidth? Honestly? I still get download rates of 150 kilobytes/s..As long as broadband or fiber optic speeds is not the standard, this is just as useless as trying to upload/download your files through emails.

Yes, it's a great idea, no, it's not gonna be worth it anytime soon. Think about it, newest SATA HDD's get transfer rates of "3G/s" which (after bit/byte calculations, frequency and encoding) becomes 300mb per second. Now think about the average cable (comcast) user getting 10-12mbps download rates..translating to about half a meg a second.

Now compare .5 megs/s vs 300 megs/s. Now include latency times of the server having to retrieve the data, your bandwidth, and the distance between you and the server. Enjoy your crap slow HDD.

I'm not trying to be a hard on about this, but just look at the facts. It's not going to be used as an alternative HDD or an extension.

You want more HDD space? Buy a 320gig 2.5 HDD for 90USD...seriously..(That is ps3 compatible as well..)

Most are in USB 2.0. USB2 gets 480mbps, which is about 60 megs/s, which still trumps the .5 megs/s download rates. Simple math folks.

Sigh..I know there will be people that will give me disagrees..i know it.

[Lich120]

While I agree that I don't think it will completely replace local storage I do think you're underestimating it a little bit.

Comparing it to email download isn't quite right. Many people with broadband don't get to see the high download speeds not because of their internet line but because the servers they're pulling from aren't dishing out at high speeds. Email servers are especially bad because email is typical used for text files and I think they limit speeds to steer clear of people using email as a sharing service.

For example I recently downloaded HL2 off of steam (which has very good servers) and was downloading at 2MB/s. While that doesn't come close to the speeds of a local drive it still is enough bandwidth to support effectively the types of services they're advertising this for. Plus if anyone has the money for a good server set up it will be google.

[VampHuntD]

That would be awesome. Otherwise, I don't know if it's any different from any otehr online storage, just less time to sync rather than to upload and download. That sounds pretty cool though.

[Sircolby45]

"Sigh..I know there will be people that will give me disagrees..i know it."

You won't get a disagree from me. Any person with a little bit of knowledge can see that this is not going to replace your HDD. Even if everyone had a 100mb connection it still would not be a good replacement. The internet simply can not handle as much as your HDD can.

[ambientFLIER]

Thanatos: Hopefully this will take care of thieves like you.

[phosphor112]

Seems like you are right so far. Haven't gotten disagrees yet. I'm just used to people hating my logic. Happens on Digg alot...lol.

[Thugbot187]

Sounds like a good idea but too Big Brother. Think about it someone gets to see everything you have on your drive... Not to say we would have to have a huge upgrade in Bandwidth. I have 2TB of information (Recorded TV, Programs, MP3's)on my computer.

I understand people love to hate the big corporation or Windows but other alternatives do exist Linux, Unix, BeOS, Mac OS. Yes I've used all of the OS I mentioned and while some of them do something better than Windows, they fall short in other areas that matter to a great deal of us; so until someone comes up with an OS that does everything Windows does and does it better, the majority of us will will live in reality and keep using Windows because it does what we need.

[prowiew]

I just doesnt like the idea of storing my data on the cloud. I like it better local. Maybe im old school.

[Wise_Man]

• Innovation is the Key to Success

[TheDude2dot0]

Wow @ the person who was whining about illegal downloads.

I don't know what's worse. The music corporation that sucks the souls out of musicians or people like you who crucify those that download songs illegally. You aren't even targeting the right people. The thieves are the ones who upload it in the first place.

By the way, the big torrent sites have one of the most well functioning give and take communities I have ever seen. If the world was like that, it would be a better place.

[ambientFLIER]

Err, no. Are you saying that it's the uploader's fault that you are downloading his music illegally? Is he making you do it? All he's doing is opening his pc for others to look through the files.

God, I just love the excuses thieves make...

Well, if it wasn't so expensive, I wouldn't download it!
That's ok, they get plenty of money anyway!
I will buy it later when I have the money, I swear!

[Nathan Drake]

I support Google to the fullest,will def' try Gdrive once it's out.

[Rambo]

I don't like it here, I mean, the people, there is no brotherhood between them. I flew choppers and drove tanks, back there, they let me operate million dollar equipment, back here I'm nothing! Nothing! I can't even hold down a job at a car wash!

[Tempist]

Glad to hear that Google has 1TB of space specifically for me. Now about that download / upload speed...

[meepmoopmeep]

Fact: Google is part of the "la li lu le lo"

call me paranoid but Google likes to keep everyones information, eh?
most likely to transmit it to the mothership in the neighboring galaxy
where EYE HAVE YOU are keeping us under a microscope.

Go GOOGLE!

:)

[Sasanova]

lol mgs ftw

[Sheddi]

"La li lu le lo" is for those who cant say "the patriots".
What have u been doing recently ehh?

[Lombax]

Anyone remember what Bill Clinton did? Besides Monica... >.>

[vlazed]

How about no. Anyone who thinks this is a good idea deserves to get spied on.

[meepmoopmeep]

Cloud computing it the next big thing.

if anyone wanted to spy on you they could do this
whether or not your information is on their servers.
your HDD is as safe on your comp at home as it is
on a company's server.

unless you're uber paranoid and unplug your stuff every night.

[Graphics Whore]

I <3 Google.

[Isaac]

Awesome Idea, you'll have your information bank just like you have a money bank. Might even be safer (save from Google's own marketing machine)

[FreedomReign]

Service fees
Interest rates
Penalty charges
Credit

What could possibly go wrong with all my personal data.

[FreedomReign]

60 gb.cap + 5mbps pipe makes this complete vapor wear. Not to mention the security concerns.

[Kushan]

You don't know the meaning of the term "vapour-ware". Just because this kind of service wouldn't be useful to YOU becuase your internet plan sucks, it does not mean that it's not a worthwhile service for others.

Vapour-ware is when a product gets a lot of hype, but nothing ever comes from it, see "Phantom Console" for a great example of this.

[SkyGamer]

I agree with the above poster. I like to have things in my control. Too much security risks. cloud computing = fail.

[meepmoopmeep]

for the record, i'm not a supporter of cloud computing,

but...
how secure do you think the info on your cellphone or PDA are?
or your home computer?

anything you have connected to the internet has security risks.
if the right people wanted to access your information
they can and will.

see the thing with cloud is you have a huge corporation
with engineers who take care of security for you.
i know that they themselves have the power to access your information at a whim
or share it (hence my non-support of the idea)
but still you have more experienced people maintaining your info
compared to some $30-60 software firewall you think is keeping your stuff safe.

[Lumbo]

The difference here is that when your own computer is not safe (and its actually not hard to reach a decent level of security for a home system) only YOUR OWN data may be spied on. But when anything happens with such huge overblown dataheaps the spies can access thousands of victims in one place. Completely ignoring the fact that google themself WILL spy on anything thats in your data for sure.

Google's mantra may have been "don't be evil" once, but today the only thing left is a fig leaf that can be summed up as "lets be marginally less evil than Microsoft"

I'd rather keep my stuff at my home, thx.

[Kushan]

I don't really see the problem with this for certain things. Ok, you're not going to want to keep your home-made naughty flicks on the service, but the example in the article is a good one - you can easily work on something from work, home, an internet cafe or wherever without having to keep carrying it around (on a Laptop or USB stick) or emailing it to yourself. Who or what exactly is going to care about a few spreadsheets or word docs or whatever? Plus don't forget, you have the added bonus of not having to back it up yourself. Of course, you SHOULD back it up in case something goes horribly wrong at Google's end, but the copy on your desktop or laptop or whatever should always be the latest one anyway, so in essence the file on your computer is the backup.

I'm still studying at Uni and I can already see me using something like this to keep my work on, that way I can work wherever I like without the possibility of loosing it and with all the convenience of mobility.

[meepmoopmeep]

i agree with you, Lumbo

i'm not a supporter of cloud.
i'm just debating about people and their security concerns.

they face the same security concerns regardless of using cloud or not.
anything connected to the internet faces the same security risks.

and Kushan, it is a good system and can be useful to many people
and yes, your info is always backed up with cloud.
any changes made will be updated to any/all devices you use with cloud.

if the Google servers get wiped out, your home PC or PDA will have the current info.

[Lumbo]

Considering that "a few spreadsheets" may very well contain the company's future in patents and business ideas that i certainly DO NOT WANT Google inc to see, read and analyze.

You don't stick your internal data and knowledge on a blackboard at Wallmart, neither should you upload it to some internet company that has a history of collecting private data for their own gains.

The moment you give such stuff out of your trusted sphere you loose all control over it. And Googles servers are well out of anyones trusted sphere regarding them honoring your privacy and not compiling behavior profiles of you. There have been "online HDD" providers before, and each of them had horrific security issues, thats why no one uses them for anything valuable.

[RoguE]

>.>
<.<
They're watching YOU...

[victorMaje]

I'm a big supporter of Google and all of their products...also the idea of powering up your personalized Google OS from any PC or MAC sounds very appealing, and cloud computing sounds like the next logical step in storage and file processing technology...but this time that next step sounds more logical for some big brother than me.

Though it would be very interesting seeing cloud computing in action, i don't think I'm ready for it taking over and/or replacing current storage devices (cause that's what might happen eventually).

Sorry big G but when it comes to "my" files, I'd rather keep them with me.

[psiom]

WOW....

No.

First of all, this is no more feasible (less, in fact) than digital downloads taking over Bluray. Neither will happen, because broadband infrastructure isn't even in the right ballpark to allow this in the mainstream.

Who the hell will boot their OS online and work at a fraction of their current operating speed? It would be like switching to an internal hard drive that runs at 1/10th the rpm. Everything would be sluggish, launch slowly, run slowly.

Secondly, nothing like this will EVER dethrone Windows. And by this I mean a new thing..."the next big thing"...the "next big idea". Not a chance. The throne of Windows is built upon millions of businesses around the world that want a practical vanilla OS that everyone knows how to use, everything they want/know runs on it, and that can easily be maintained by the thousands of currently active IT/support contractors.

I'm sorry, I HATE windows at the best of times, but to think that all those Windows-using businesses will jump ship (..for what reason again?) and start playing with experimental technology is a pipe dream.

Something might best Windows one day, but you can bet it won't be anything with "new/breakthrough/unteste d" ideas attached to it. It will only (EVENTUALLY) be something well that's established and practical, and it will be a long and slow road to get there.

Frankly I'd be surprised if this OS, in terms of mainstream use, even dethrones Apple's OSX market share.

[rob6021]

who's gonna put the pirated stuff that fills up most peoples real hard drives on something Google can monitor and delete at their discretion. This things gonna flop big time.

[kingnick]

While the main issues are bandwidth and lower trasfer rates I am also worried about uploading personal data to such a service because of their EUA/TOU.

[Joey Greco RULES]

the fanboys come out to cry about this.

Google is an insanely successful company, that has made all their ideas a reality.
So when it comes to doubting their ability to make this happen, DONT.

[Kazu0 Hirai]

My company used to be insanely successful and look at us now, struggling to keep our heads above water with the Playstation 3 sinking us. Even successful companies like Google will have some flops. As President of Sony Computer Entertainment, I can tell you this from first-hand experience.

Sincerely,

Kaz Hirai

[Joey Greco RULES]

STOP CHEATING ON YOUR WIFE.

-joey

[Bengoshi-San]

This product will not take off until our bandwidth here in the u.s. gets a much needed upgrade.

I personally prefer personal storage and a physical drive.

I don't like the idea of having my stuff on someone's server somewhere.

[superrey19]

I doubt people will use this as a way to ditch hard drives. I'm interested in it as a back up for my files, not as a my main form of storage. I'd hate to have to download all my stuff every time i wanted to see it. But, its a good way to back stuff up without having to buy another hard drive, not to mention the ability to access these files from other computers in case my external hd dies or something.

[Jdoki]

On a side note - This is different from the GDrive idea, but if anyone is interested in backing up data securely (i.e. no snooping or targetted advertising) I would recommend Mozy Home. www.mozy.com

They offer 2GB for free.

All data is encrypted before transfer.
Data is accessible through a local client or the web interface.
It only uploads the bits of a file that has changed (so once the initial back-up is done, all subsequent backups are very fast unless adding brand new files).
Also it holds 30days worth of version changes, so you can always roll back to an earlier file.

I used the free version for ages to hold important docs, and now use the full product to hold back-ups of my photo's and music library and other stuff that would be irreplacable if stolen, lost or damaged.

(Also tried Carbonite and iDrive - but Carbonite does not support external drives, and I didn't like iDrive).

[Ldubbz]

That sounds pretty damn cool, especially the whole file-updating feature. Thanks for the info!

Bubbles for you, my good man....

[Jdoki]

For anyone who works mobile this is great news. Forget a hard drive, just have a small lump of memory to boot the laptop to a state that allows network/WiFi access (lots of laptops already starting to appear with 'Instant On' type features like this).

Then the Google 'OS' kicks in (basically Chrome browser and a Google web page designed to feel like a desktop enviroment).

From there it's simple to access Google Apps and Email etc. Anyone notice that Chrome allows icons for Mail and Apps to be added to the desktop - they may only be URL shortcuts with specific icons - but it 'feels' like launching an application.

People afraid of 'spying', well don't use it. I already use GMail and Hotmail - both of which look at your emails and target ads at me.

Google don't appear to be looking to run massive apps off the GDrive - just look at their services and products.. Gears, Chrome, Email, Apps, Android to name a few. All products/services that most people use on a day to day basis (I include Android as most people use a mobile phone on a dialy basis); all products/service that compliment each other, and all producrts that are fast and lightweight.

There's very few common apps that can only work installed on a machine. Video player, audio player etc etc can all be run directly off the browser - plus the great thing is it would be platform independant.

The only issue is when people are not online - which is where Google Gears kicks in and keeps some things syncronised locally.

Bring it on!

[cherrypie]

skydrive.live.com

Web-based and Windows Explorer interface to free 25GB storage.

google's product is late and lacking.

[Jdoki]

I suspect Google's offering will be more in line with Microsoft's Live Mesh (beta). But as we don't actually know what GDrive will offer I guess it's hard to say it's lacking features or otherwise.

I will be giving Skydrive and Live Mesh a test soon for comparison before Google's product. Apparently MobileMe from Apple is very poor for PC's (no shock there).

[Pika-pie]

Hmm, dont think I would like all my personal files and documents held somewhere for Mr Google to look through at his leisure.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Interesting...

[Mc187]

< reaches for tinfoil hat>

[Ldubbz]

The SkyDrive from MS seems like the most attractive...the ability to access your HDD from your Windows-enabled phone is pretty hot stuff. MobileMe from Mac should let you do that with your iPhone.

The Gdrive sounds like it could also be cool, though I dont think most people will have a real need for it, especially with how cheap thumb drives are nowadays. Not to mention they dont rely on an internet connection.

But who knows? We shall see....

[DOOMZ]

This wont fly at all...

[KyonoRocks]

I'd never store my whole hard drive on there, but backing up my files and sticking on movies and TV shows I've recorded will be really useful when I'm in another country or university or whatever and I need a file from home

[GlibGamer]

Not interested in cloud computing. There's too many morons in charge of networks and servers out there, and I don't want my data at their mercy. This isn't a security issue, it's a reliability/availability issue.

This is why I say "no thank-you" to the cloud.

[jack who]

ill pass