Head in the cloud

Of course,Google is entering an already hectic market services like DropBox,SugarSync and Box.net are commonly used. Even among Googles big-name competitors,Microsoft has had SkyDrive since 2007,Apple has iCloud,Amazon has its own Cloud Drive. Google will offer the same freemium model as everyone else a first 5 GB free for every user,and much more lavish space for businesses and individuals who are willing to pay. Unlike some of its rivals,though,Google Drive intends to be an open platform,capable of running on any device,though its iOS version is still to come.

Although Google is only one among many offering cloud storage,with their own various attractions,some fear that its presence will inevitably dwarf the others. There is something about Google that makes any technological novelty seem mainstream. Even those who are not early adopters of any new trend,who have heard ambient mutterings about the cloud in recent years and remained incurious,are likely to use it because it is integrated with Gmail and Picasa,and then get hooked to the obvious utility of it. Google likes to call this quality seamless. Given that Google is the most familiar place on the Web for most,Google Drives won even as it starts the race.