Currently viewing the tag: "Online storage"
DO we really need another Dropbox?
That’s the question that sprang to mind when Google recently announced Google Drive, a service that gives you 5 gigabytes of free online storage so that you can access your files from any Internet-connected computer.
The move was long overdue. Years ago, when Google began offering gigabyte-range storage on its Gmail service, some of us felt it would be nifty to be able to use that free space to back up some of our files online. I even recall a third-party Firefox extension called Gspace that did just that, though it was somewhat unwieldy to use.
HAVING your head in the clouds isn’t a good thing, but these days, it’s okay to have your data in them. That’s because cloud computing—or location-independent computing—is becoming more ubiquitous as wireless broadband services become cheaper and the number of smart mobile devices continues to grow.
EVER work all night on a document only to realize the next day that you had left it on your home PC?
In the old days, you could save yourself a trip home by using remote control software such as PCanywhere, Laplink or VNC. These days, you could also use GoToMyPC, LogMeIn or similar online pay services to do the same thing.
But software that lets you run applications off a remote PC is a bit of an overkill if all you need is access to common files from different computers. For this purpose, online storage will do very nicely.
TWO years ago, I wrote a piece called “Space for your stuff” that compared the various storage options for the burgeoning volume of digital data that each of us produces.
