Robert wrote: > Industry critics warn of danger in giving internet leader more power > by David Smith > > > Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their > personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry > reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth > unprecedented control over individuals' personal data. > The Google Drive, or "GDrive", could kill off the desktop computer, which > relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and > operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the > internet. > The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to > the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as "the most > anticipated Google product so far". It is seen as a paradigm shift away from > Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's > computers, in favour of "cloud computing", where the processing and storage > is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres. > Home and business users are increasingly turning to web-based services, > usually free, ranging from email (such as Hotmail and Gmail) and digital > photo storage (such as Flickr and Picasa) to more applications for documents > and spreadsheets (such as Google Apps). The loss of a laptop or crash of a > hard drive does not jeopardise the data because it is regularly saved in "the > cloud" and can be accessed via the web from any machine. > The GDrive would follow this logic to its conclusion by shifting the contents > of a user's hard drive to the Google servers. The PC would be a simpler, > cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of > Google's operating system for mobile phones, Android. Users would think of > their computer as software rather than hardware. > It is this prospect that alarms critics of Google's ambitions. Peter Brown, > executive director of the Free Software Foundation, a charity defending > computer users' liberties, did not dispute the convenience offered, but said: > "It's a little bit like saying, 'we're in a dictatorship, the trains are > running on time.' But does it matter to you that someone can see everything > on your computer? Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to > hand over all your data to the American government?" > Google refused to confirm the GDrive, but acknowledged the growing demand for > cloud computing. Dave Armstrong, head of product and marketing for Google > Enterprise, said: "There's a clear direction ... away from people thinking, > 'This is my PC, this is my hard drive,' to 'This is how I interact with > information, this is how I interact with the web.'" There's a "growing demand for cloud computing?" Probably only in their marketing department. There are certainly a number of lame-o's out there that don't back up their hard drivers. These days you can get terrabyte plugin backup drives for under $150 and they are handy to use. Just don't keep them in the same room as your computer and hide them. Francis Coppola had a backup system but it was in the same room and was stolen along with his gear. Only the lazy want cloud computing. And then for this system to be successful they'd have to give away the computers.
And there are already web based backup systems but one wonders how efficient they are with the US's outdated implementation of broadband (for the behest of the lords of the telecoms and their yachts). What we really need are new security systems for wifi that keep packet sniffers from grabbing your data when you are out at some coffee shop on your laptop. Android isn't too bad compared to regular Java but it's poorly documented and needs better tutorials. Fortunately its been around long enough web samples by people who spent hours trying to grok it are beginning to appear plus some books (amazingly the best is under $20 -- now that's something in the world of computer development books). Most pros like to work sideways into a new development system and have to wait for the "cookbooks" which for Android don't exist yet.
