Gdrive

Is Google Getting Serious About the Online Storage Business?

When talking about data, the key to keeping it around comes down to redundancy. The more copies of the same data that you have, the better the odds that you will be able to access it when you need it. This is true, and I'll add that at least a little paranoia, and anticipating Murphy's Law don't hurt your chances either.

Online storage is a great solution to the data preservation problem. The data is off site, so that when the next big hurricane rolls past your home or business, at least your data will be safe and somewhere else. The question arises as the best way to accomplish this. Streamload MediaMax is one solution I looked at and found adequate in some respects. There are countless photo sharing sites out there for images. Just today, Bill on TN linked to some users that were using their Gmail accounts to store more than their email. C'mon Google, did you really expect anyone to use almost 3 gigs of space just on email?

Google realizes the old adage is true: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Over at Addict3d, I ran across a post that mentioned Google's intention to offer infinite storage. This made me even more curious, and it led me to this link over at ZDNet. This linked to a slideshow for Google Analyst Day 2006. Rather than blocking Gmail accounts from this nonintended use, Google appears to be embracing the concept of online storage, and wants to be THE provider.

To quote Google, they are developing "infinite storage." Next to infinite, even the 25 GB of Streamload looks quite puny. This would be the ultimate online storage. Users could upload any type of file, and in unlimited quantities. Equally important, we would have access to the files from any internet connected device, anytime, anywhere. Who needs a USB flash drive? My external hard drive would rather useless as well. Road warriors could definitely lighten their load, and never have to face the situation of "it's on my computer back in the office."

However, given the go ahead, I'd gladly upload large gigabyte chunks of my hard drive, and I'm sure I'm not alone. How does Google expect to profit from this massive online repository? Perhaps they will charge for the storage. Of course, there will be some ads embedded into the system somewhere. Imagine: "Your download will commence in 30 seconds, but first a word from our sponsor..." Others have suggested that perhaps they will sell DVD backups of your data, or charge to upload content. Can a "Gtunes" be far behind? I think not!


We're early in this Gdrive game to say for sure what exactly the unlimited online storage service will look like. However, in typical Google fashion, they have identified an internet service that users need and want, and they plan on dominating it. Google style.

--Jonas