Google's Rumored GDrive May 'Kill' the PC (anyone willing to give up their PC?)

Fox ^ | 1/26/2009 | Fox

[Red in Blue PA]

Google's rumored "GDrive," a service that would enable users to access their PCs from any Internet connection, could kill off the desktop computer, The Guardian has reported.

The GDrive, unconfirmed by Google, is reported to launch this year, with tech news sites calling it the "most anticipated Google product so far."

The Google drive would shift away from Microsoft Window's operating system, in favor of "cloud computing," where storage and processing is done in data centers. Users would no longer have to rely on their computers' powerful hard drives.

Home and businesses have been turning toward web-based services, such as e-mail — including popular services Hotmail and Gmail — and photo storage, such as Flickr and Picasa. Users would no longer have to worry about their hard drives crashing, since data would be saved on the Web, and can be accessed from any machine.

[null and void]

*groan* *moan*

[RKV]

What they want you to have is less than a thin client. Think terminal with windows (X or MS or proprietary). With a fast fat wireless net (3g?) it could work. That said, its not a good idea, however convenient it looks.

[yorkie01]

I’m sure Google would love all that data to share with and to pedal to different groups and government worldwide. This is nothing more than the legacy systems of years ago where all processing and storage was done at one or one of several locations. Thin (non-thinking) clients - does the word dim come to mind? Small thoughts, small minds. Oz will digest it and let us know what we really mean.

[mtrott]

I’ll pass on this as well. No way am I putting my stuff out in the ozone somewhere.

I don’t use Google either. I have used yahoo for searches(don’t know if that is much better) and now have been trying clusty.com.

[Texan Tory]

While this sounds technically feasible to me, I think it will be hard (to say the very least) for them to get around the issue of trust. I would worry (probably most other people would too) that the system could be hacked, personal data compromised or lost, etc. I do love Google’s hilariously childish motto though: “Don’t be evil!”

[JSDude1]

No thanks, I think I’ll keep my data at home, not somewhere easily hacked into, (or snooped on by government, corporate) interests!

[HamiltonJay]

A “virtual” desktop that could be accessed anywhere in the world running in a browser window would be awesome, but its not going to kill the desktop computer or the local drive.

[Scfiead]

Y’know, it would nice to ditch Google, but I haven’t found a replacement search engine that actually returns sane results. I used Vivisimo search aggregator/categorizer for a while, before the big engines blocked their access to their data.

Hmmm...I am writing this in Google Chrome too...ummm...

Need to go find Firefox 3.1 beta with the manual config changes to enable the faster javascript engine...I guess it was just easier to install Chrome for now.

[bankwalker]

“External drive storage is where it’s at. You control it and if the crap hits the fan, just grab n go!”

I have a few questions maybe someone can answer about this.

If I use an external hard drive does windows assign a drive letter to it or do I need to assign it manually?

If I take the drive to another computer, are the drive letters the same or will they change?

If I INSTALL a program (.EXE) on the portable hard drive, will I be able to RUN it on any PC the drive is attached to?

What if this programs creates registry entries? They don't move with the hard drive, do they?

I just want to be able to put programs AND data on a portable device so I can work on any PC. Is this even possible without this google GDrive type solution?

Thanks in advance.

[Still Thinking]

The Google drive would shift away from Microsoft Window's operating system, in favor of "cloud computing," where storage and processing is done in data centers.

How do you know they're not reading all your data?

How do you know once they have your data and you no longer have the infrastructure to do stuff for yourself, that they won't start charging $100/hr to access your own data?

Users would no longer have to rely on their computers' powerful hard drives.

Yes, I feel so much safer relying on the reliability of a system where I have no input into how it works and must trust the intentions of those who run it, than I do relying on myself where I have 100.00% control over how it's done.

< forehead slap >

[NonValueAdded]

Give up your pc or give up your data? It’s the latter that you’d be doing.

[ozark hilljilly]

I’ve never had to use the external on another ‘puter...yet.
But IIRC, Windows automatically assigns a drive letter to it.

“If I INSTALL a program (.EXE) on the portable hard drive, will I be able to RUN it on any PC the drive is attached to?”

I’m wondering that myself. There’s an .exe I’d like to have on mine, but since we’re on dial-up a 6 hour download is out of the question. Could one just download the program to, say, a thumb drive on a DSL connection (a kinsman computer in town) and then load up on another ‘puter?

I’ve been monkeying on ‘puters since Apple pre Mac, but I’m falling way behind the curve nowadays.

[Gondring]

The fundamental reason this ain’t gonna happen is non-technical. If someone owns your data storage, they own you. This is as true from a privacy perspective as from a financial perspective. Only the weak minded will go for this for anything more than trivial amounts of trivial data.

That seems like an argument that it will be implemented in full.

[stylin_geek]

The only thing I like about thin clients is having the ability to protect users from themselves.

[GCC Catholic]

Anyone seen the netbooks lately with Intel Atom processors?

I have one, and I'm typing this response from it.

It doesn't need to be an issue of who is 'falling for it' or not. It's all about needs. I have a desktop computer where most of my data lives, and I needed a computer that was ultra-portable and durable.

The netbook fit the bill (and six months ago I paid more than the one you just saw). It was what I needed. A full-size laptop wouldn't have worked as well.

For the record, I still haven't used the online storage option that came free with it, nor do I plan to.

[SparkyBass]

All your data are belong to us.

[Doohickey]

Boy it’s going to be great to be able to get targeted adverising based on my bank and credit card statements.

[Still Thinking]

If I use an external hard drive does windows assign a drive letter to it or do I need to assign it manually?

Windows will generally assign one if it's USB (and presumably FireWire). I prefer to install mine hanging off the network, and those you have to navigate through the network and assign a drive letter the first time. After that Windows will remember.

If I take the drive to another computer, are the drive letters the same or will they change?

A new drive letter will be assigned.

If I INSTALL a program (.EXE) on the portable hard drive, will I be able to RUN it on any PC the drive is attached to? What if this programs creates registry entries? They don't move with the hard drive, do they?

It depends on the programs you install. Not all programs create registry entries, and not all that do need them to run. But the registry entries are on the drive where Windows resides, so no they won't be there if you plug into another machine and the programs won't work if they need their registry entries to run. Most people just put data on these drives.

I just want to be able to put programs AND data on a portable device so I can work on any PC. Is this even possible without this google GDrive type solution?

You could use a remote desktop like is included in windows or some product like Symantec's PCAnywhere or GoToMyPC, and you'd essentially be doing the same thing Google is, and have some of the same attendant risks, but at least you'd be in control. It sound to me like you need to get a good laptop (today's are competitive with desktops in terms of power and functionality) and just take the whole shebang with you. When you're at a place where you regularly set up, you can have an external monitor and keyboard to ease laptop fatigue.

Yet another solution, depending on the hardware your software needs to interface to, and how powerful the machines are where you want to sit down and immediately start using your own software and data, is virtualization. You can get VirtualPC, relevant versions of VMWare, and many other virtualization programs for free. So get it, build a virtual PC on this removable drive, and keep a copy of the host software on the drive as well. Then, at a new machine, you just install the virtualization software (about 5 minutes), and you're up and running with a PC that has your software, data, and is configured to your preferences.

[lefty-lie-spy]

That said, its not a good idea, however convenient it looks.

Exactly. A service like that has its uses, and there are dozens out there that do ASP and internet disk storage, but they aren't internet or software giants because it is not and never will be a replacement for what we have now, and will not be feasible for adoption as ubiquitous as a home PC for at least another 20 years.

[shorty_harris]

I just want to be able to put programs AND data on a portable device so I can work on any PC. Is this even possible without this google GDrive type solution?

Try PortableApps.com