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Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

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Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#421

Here's the most important paragraph in the blog post that most people will gloss over (because Google glossed over it): "Drive is built to work seamlessly with your overall Google experience. You can attach photos from Drive to posts in Google+, and soon you’ll be able to attach stuff from Drive directly to emails in Gmail. Drive is also an open platform, so we’re working with many third-party developers so you can d…

Image Google Data Liberation is as simple as copy a folder out of Google Drive.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#422
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if it is, though. I have Google's +20gb plan from an earlier purchase, and it gives me 25gb in Drive too, for $5 per year.

Those old planes will no longer be offered - you'll have to switch to the per month payments when the old subscription.

That's not correct. You can stay on the old plan for as long as you don't try to upgrade and your Google Wallet has a valid, up-to-date credit card:

http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answ...

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#423

[crosspost from the French translation thread - now that we have the official details, I think this comment is better discussed here.] So the things Google Drive has that Dropbox doesn't: * 2-factor authentication! * Comments on files * OCR - like Evernote, you can search against text in images (e.g. newspaper article) * Image recognition - if you upload a pic of the Eiffel Tower, you can find it with the search term…

We should also have list going the other - things Dropbox has that GDrive doesn't: * Linux support * Headless (command line interface) * Public bug tracking and feature requests (votebox) Unsure about these * Shared folders I'm struggling to come up with more.

Dropbox possibly has better customer support compared to Google's possibly non-existent customer support.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#424
post #96
post #68

I recently upgraded to Dropbox @ $199/yr for 100gb to archive our digital photos. Yesterday MSFT skydrive offered 100gb for $50/yr. Today GOOG offers 400GB for $100/yr or 1TB for $256/yr. As a consumer with "offsite backup" in mind, there doesn't seem to be an inherently high switching cost to move services away from DropBox. As a result I think that they're going to need to reassess pricing strategy within the year.…

I saw the same pricing as you did but it _just_ changed as I refreshed the page a second time. 1 TB now costs $49.99 per month, or $600/year. This is a substantial jump from $256/year and means it's no longer an attractive proposition...

I'm got a completely different pricing plan than everyone is mentioning. Maybe they're doing some sort of price elasticity testing.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should also have list going the other - things Dropbox has that GDrive doesn't: * Linux support * Headless (command line interface) * Public bug tracking and feature requests (votebox) Unsure about these * Shared folders I'm struggling to come up with more.

Dropbox possibly has better customer support compared to Google's possibly non-existent customer support.

This is the single biggest issue I have. I wouldn't say I distrust Google, but I don't trust them enough to store my documents with them. Algorithmic lockout happens with their other services, and with no customer service resource that I could contact, using their service seems to risky to justify the cost savings.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#426
Not trying to nay-say here- genuine question follows.

Is the goal of this service ultimately that I back up all of my personal files, work files, collaborative files, etc so that they can be analyzed and an advertising profile can be created/enhanced based on the contents?

Seems to me that this would make a lot of sense for Google. Let us store all of your goodies and cheaply. Don't mind us while we have a non-personally identifiable and algorithmically brillant peak at the contents so we can serve ads better and create a advertising/marketing/buyer permanent record of sorts for you.

Again, not a conspiracy theory. Just wondering, because that occurred to me as a real opportunity for them. Seeing some comments below this has occurred to others.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#427
post #313
post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is not when Facebook sends you targeted ads. It is when third parties access your information to target you in other ways. Think of the Girls Around Me app. Or employers who want to look at people's FB. Or governments who want to spy on their own people. (Anyone who thinks that the USA doesn't should look at the history of the FBI. And you'd be amazed what can get twisted out of shape during lawsuits.) Th…

Girls Around Me was a Foursquare app. And in any case, it only used public information. Facebook offers finely grained privacy controls that allow you to control what third parties can and cannot access- they do a far better job of it than Apple and Google do, IMO. Obviously, illegitimate access is an entirely different topic.

My understanding was that Girls Around Me used Foursquare to identify people, then connected to Facebook for information such as pictures, interests, etc.

And yes, it "only" used public information. But Facebook has pushed people to make more public than they would really be comfortable being known by the creep who is trying to figure out the right pickup strategy to use.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#428

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you quote, quote in full. The problem is not with Google sitting on a lot of data, it's with them exploiting people's ignorance to get it.

>it's with them exploiting people's ignorance to get it. How are they exploiting any kind of ignorance? What is the average GDrive user unaware of that Google is somehow evil for not disclosing in large, red, 52pt Impact? And I quoted you saying "evil" because it's the relevant portion that I was responding to. You could have gone with "Hmm, cloud storage has a few drawbacks..." but no, you went full derp.

The same way a plumber is "exploiting" your ignorance. You don't know how to or have the tools to replace your kitchen sink p-trap... that is you are ignorant in this case. In step s the business with the tools and knowledge- or technology if you will...

You can't build your own gdrive or have the tools too (or the curve to do so is too steep). In steps google.

I disagree with the word "exploit" in this case. Maybe "capitalizing" on your ignorance. That's what a successful business does- capitalizes on prevalent ignorance- of process, or tools, or what-have-you- and makes a business model out of it.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just described every business. People don't have perfect knowledge. Thank you for trying to raise awareness over an admittedly important issue. But calling this "evil" is absurd. Go yell at people convincing college kids to sign up for credit cards or buy magazines by handing out T-shirts and movie passes. For comparison: The phone companies know about every phone call you make. That's a wealth of information. Th…

Sure, now imagine that ADP, Telco, Visa, HP and Dell are the same company.

Look no further than your government. Frankly, you may be better served encouraging the use of encryption, because, sadly, I could probably convince myself that Google can be trusted to lobby for my rights/privacy more/better than my governments prying eye would lobby to take them away.

However, awareness of encrypting important data and not using online-social tools is the alternative.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#430

Well, this pretty much exhausts the pool of people who don't care for the data privacy. On the plus side, those who do want privacy are still waiting for a proper solution, and it is an opportunity. (edit) It is really shocking how absolutely mind-bogglingly ignorant people are when it comes to their data privacy matters. How could any business person in a sane state of mind choose to share its data with some 3rd par…

> How could any business person in a sane state of mind choose to share its data with some 3rd party company. Every company has to share its data somehow. You probably aren't your own ISP, or web host, or even land lord. Your company's health insurance provider knows all of your employees and even which ones are sick. Your employees likely have information on their phones and laptops about your company. Etc etc. Goog…

I am in the inquisitive/questioning camp on this and even considering that this is a pretty good point. Just sayin'
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