Google’s GDrive Replacing PCs? Can’t Believe It
I was watching diggnation today and heard (again) about the rumored GDrive, so I decided to do a little reading to see what it's about. I found this article about it and while I can see Google opening up the storage and making a desktop client for something like the MacFUSE, I can't see this being what is being portrayed in the article:
As the latest rumors surfaced, The Guardian told the world that Google was planning to "make PCs history." This was promptly echoed by the likes of FoxNews.
"The Google Drive, or 'GDrive,' could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive," The Guardian burbled. "Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet."
Apparently, this is part of a Google-grab scheme to put a Googlephone into every hand. "The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web," the paper went on, "perhaps via an adaptation of Google's operating system for mobile phones, Android."
On diggnation, Kevin pointed out why he (and about a billion other people) would never store all their information on a server they don't physically control: security. When it first gets cracked, and it will, it's only a matter of time and energy, then the crackers are going to go after the people with the most to loose - celebrities. Understandable. But there's more to it than that. Everyone probably has something they don't want others to mess with, and if GDrive isn't backed-up in my house, then if GDrive gets nuked, all my stuff is gone.
Unacceptable.
For under $300 I can get a drive that backs up all my data and does it safely. I'll never loose my photos, the sounds of my kids, my docs, my code. No way. So why hand it over to anyone?
And as for the 'PCs are a thing of the past'... yeah, right... Sun tried that with the JavaStation and it failed just as badly as this will. There's no way a phone will replace a computer. The phone is nice, but it's not something you're going to type a sales report on, or do work for your employer. Employers are never going to use it, do the PC industry will survive, and if they are being built, there are going to be reasons to have one at home.
No, it's an interesting idea, and I might very well throw some stuff up there, but I'll use it like a public or semi-private file repository and that's it. No way I'm trusting it to the most important things I have.