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It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

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Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#231
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're reading HN you probably don't need that level of support, but that's not to say there aren't customers who need their hand held to restart a computer. Part of the issue is that support is never allowed to push back on the customer. They don't get to say "I'm sorry, but you'll have to do a rudimentary computing course before I can proceed further". In a business environment it's all to easy to save on trai…

> Part of the issue is that support is never allowed to push back on the customer. They don't get to say "I'm sorry, but you'll have to do a rudimentary computing course before I can proceed further". Well, no kidding, because who would pay for that?

Whether you're selling software or hard drugs, there'll always be customers who are just not worth keeping.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_and_demon_customers

Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#232
post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Part of the issue is that support is never allowed to push back on the customer. They don't get to say "I'm sorry, but you'll have to do a rudimentary computing course before I can proceed further". Well, no kidding, because who would pay for that?

Whether you're selling software or hard drugs, there'll always be customers who are just not worth keeping. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_and_demon_customers

I'm sorry, but nontechnical customers are an overwhelming majority. If you can't figure out a way to serve them you aren't going to be very successful.

Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#233
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you able to provide more details here? Or you can reach out to me (details in profile). (Disclaimer: I work for Google, but comments here are my own).

> details in profile I don't know if you've removed them since posting this, but your contact details aren't actually in your profile.

Weird - OK, that should be fixed now =). Let me know if not.

Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#234
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> details in profile I don't know if you've removed them since posting this, but your contact details aren't actually in your profile.

Weird - OK, that should be fixed now =). Let me know if not.

Yup, fixed now.

Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#235
post #228
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems like a ridiculously small number of files at which to start encountering problems. I would expect Google to make things more scalable. Yes I realize you have to work with what the OS gives you, but still, you can build your own stuff on top of that, no?

Keep in mind this is a 32-bit system. As a result it has at most 3.5 gigs of memory for the entire system, and e.g. on windows this will limit a single process to 2 gigs. If the sync client keeps some kind of in-memory representation of your files (a very reasonable thing to do for the vast majority of clients), and if you have 700,000 files, and assuming that folder references magically take up no space and that the…

Well, if only we had high-performance data-retrieval systems which were accustomed to limited memory on its 32-bit host. A system like that might be able to stream indexes from a HDD to a couple processes in memory which read it as it comes through. Or even just a successful full-table scan.

We could call it "Postgresql". Or even "Sqlite".

"Well, because it is submersed in a marine environment, I've always called it the Going-Under-The-Water-Safely Device."

-- Leonard da Quirm

RDMBS are the "accesses-the-data-safely" device. This is a failure of architecture.

Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#236
FYI, I've updated the log since this post. Google has refunded me since December and is offering free 1TB for two years. They told me to use Backup and Sync, releasing today, which should solve these problems. I appreciate the refund+free years and have my fingers crossed with the update. I hope they also internalize how broken their support process is, but I'm doubtful.

If B+S doesn't work I'll likely figure out how to sync everything (it's going to be painful, but there are a lot of options in the comment, thanks) and move to a different product.

Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#237
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love love love Google support, in particular with Google Suite. Would be awesome if their free products came with support, but I know that's asking too much.

Why is it? You pay via ads and their margin on these products is probably quite healthy. Why shouldn't they offer support?

I don't pay via ads. The ads are attached to the content or service freely provided.

Re: It's been 191 days since Google Drive worked for me

#238
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember that time Dropbox's ops team was so on the ball they let anyone log into your account with any password? No, thank you.

I think if you disqualify any company or program that's ever had a security issue then you have no options left.

You're reading a lot more into my statement than what I wrote. I'm talking about Dropbox in particular, not "any company or program that's ever had a security issue".
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