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Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

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Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#501

Post by j_s »

rdl wrote: post #442
sakai wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, they're doing pretty heavy de-duping, but point well taken.

The de-duping is certainly more than the discount off list price, too -- I suspect they de-dupe 10-100x. I really doubt their discount off the lowest public S3 volume price is more than 50%.

I'll admit to not paying much attention, but they might count files shared between personal accounts against both accounts' quotas... there's certainly a huge incentive for them to do so on the free accounts. Meta-de-dupe!

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#502

Post by esun »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #117
mikek wrote: post #2

Interesting... they are not just going after Dropbox with Google Drive, but also Evernote. "Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology."

Is OCR really the feature that makes Evernote a popular product? I don't use it, but I have seen people use it, and it looks more like a notebook that syncs across all your devices. There is little notion of "files". I can't imagine this will have much effect on Evernote.

It's a great feature if you scan lots of documents and want to search them.

This way I have one place to store both typed and scanned stuff, and it gets me close to paperless at home.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#503

Post by TheCowboy »

rogerbinns wrote: post #432
TheCowboy wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

My one experience with Dropbox support was not positive: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3885618

Wow. Hopefully some healthy competition will force them to reconsider their policy on shared folders.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#504

Post by jedc »

Bjartr wrote: post #489
lobster_johnson wrote: post #485

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be referring to some othet Google auth system. The two-factor system used for Google accounts sends a code via SMS that you need to enter on the web page. It does not make you enter something on your phone.

There is an google authenticator app for android that you can register with your two factor auth so you can just open the app rather than wait for the text message.

It's not just Android. It's Android, iOS, and BlackBerry.

http://support.google.com/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&a...

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#505

Post by mangodrunk »

richardlblair wrote: post #452
rogerbinns wrote: post #330

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.

And Dropbox doesn't use/steal your data. So really that is an argument for Dropbox by it self. It also kinda of nulls "* 2-factor authentication!" because what is authentication if your data isn't safe? +1 Dropbox

Are you forgetting or not aware of security issues with Dropbox where a bug made passwords optional for four hours[1], some people claiming that it's not secure by design [2], and mislead customers about security policies [3]. I don't know how relevant these issues are today, but you're claims make it seem like that have a perfect record.

[1] http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/dropbox-security-bug-made-p...

[2] http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static...

[3] http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/security/2295006...

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#506

Post by mangodrunk »

jl6 wrote: post #184

There is a huge economy of scale working in Google's favor: deduplication. The more users they can de-dupe across, the cheaper their raw storage becomes. To compete, perhaps smaller backup services could agree "reinsurance" contracts with each other, exchanging lists of file hashes...

That's a really good idea. I wonder what the duplication rate will be given the scale.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#507

Post by sirclueless »

lobster_johnson wrote: post #499
mryan wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, I see. Yes, looks like Google offers multiple phone-based two-factor systems. I was referring to the oAuth one, which uses time-based tokens rather than sending the code via SMS.

I see. But does that qualify as a two-factor auth? You need two independent "factors" for that, and while OAuth uses tokens internally, all it does is ensure a secure transport between Google's servers and the app that requests authorization. It doesn't actually obtain two different things from the user.

No, that's not exactly what he means. The "token" isn't the OAuth native token, it's a 6-digit code that is based on the current time and a device secret embedded in the app on your phone.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#508

Post by sirclueless »

el_presidente wrote: post #447
jwmerrill wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You actually can get access to these apps in other browsers through the Chrome Web Store. Try adding any of the Drive enabled apps. The experience is a little odd right now, but it works.

I get a big scary message telling me that most apps won't work without Chrome.

But the important thing is that there's no reason they can't. Google's release partners understandably target the browser that is used by Google fans, since they will be the early adopters.

So long as this is a temporary situation, which I think it is, I wouldn't be worried.

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#509

Post by lobster_johnson »

sirclueless wrote: post #507
lobster_johnson wrote: post #499

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see. But does that qualify as a two-factor auth? You need two independent "factors" for that, and while OAuth uses tokens internally, all it does is ensure a secure transport between Google's servers and the app that requests authorization. It doesn't actually obtain two different things from the user.

No, that's not exactly what he means. The "token" isn't the OAuth native token, it's a 6-digit code that is based on the current time and a device secret embedded in the app on your phone.

What you are referring to isn't part of the OAuth spec, as far as I know, is it something particular to Google's API?

The cached access token could also be considered a factor, although it depends on the token expiry policy. If the token doesn't require a refresh using a refresh token (which must prompt a password) often enough its security is compromised.

I don't know what kind of expiry Google's OAuth token has, but last time I tested this, it was a very long time. I believe Twitter's live forever. Facebook's offline access scope (which you will need for a normal app) lives forever until the user changes his/her password (see http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/2011/05/13/how-to--...).

Re: Introducing Google Drive... yes, really

#510

Post by rdl »

tlb wrote: post #445
rdl wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The de-duping is certainly more than the discount off list price, too -- I suspect they de-dupe 10-100x. I really doubt their discount off the lowest public S3 volume price is more than 50%.

Personal photos take up a large fraction of people's cloud storage, and they are completely non-de-dupable. I doubt it's possible to get more than 3x on average.

Ah. I use stuff like this for binaries, music/video content, and other highly dedupeable content, at least relative to file size. I specifically don't use it for photos or video since I have specific technology for that, and random small files don't move the needle.

I didn't realize people used it as a photo or video sharing solution -- that kind of content would be big and non-dedupeable.

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