The Core

I presume that this is going to be a start of a cloud sync type service beyond what the default install of dropbox offers. If you look at what the HTC One X does with dropbox it seems like something worth tying in with android.

Would I get them to store critical information though? Would I f###! Mind you - I wouldn't with dropbox either.

Bill -take a look at Tonido if that is your concern. Different approach. I used it for a while in full paranoia mode and it was pretty useful.

Back to good drive though - have you seen the terms surrounding ownership of what you submit? Short version: You give it to google.

Back to good drive though - have you seen the terms surrounding ownership of what you submit? Short version: You give it to google.

Just got the invite and installed it. But... gulp this is what I was worried about. Think I'll stick with dropbox

As for security, use dropbox (or drive if you wish) with truecrypt and mount/unmount on the go.

All the stuff in my dropbox I'm not really too bothered if it was to be taken tbh. The encrypted data I've got amounts to under 10mb.

And this from Paul Myers newsletter (talkbiznews.com )

It's a long quote, but I don't think you can get to it on the web so....

An excerpt from Google Drive's terms of service:

   "Your Content in our Services: When you upload or
    otherwise submit content to our Services, you give
    Google (and those we work with) a worldwide licence
    to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create
    derivative works (such as those resulting from
    translations, adaptations or other changes that we
    make so that your content works better with our
    Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform,
    publicly display and distribute such content.

   "The rights that you grant in this licence are for
    the limited purpose of operating, promoting and
    improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This
    licence continues even if you stop using our Services
    (for example, for a business listing that you have
    added to Google Maps)."

 At first glance, that 'limited purpose' doesn't sound very
 'limited' to me. Privacy advocates and intellectual property
 owners across the web went ballistic over it. To contrast it
 with more creator-friendly terms, consider this, from the ToS
 for Dropbox:

   "Your Stuff & Your Privacy: By using our Services you
    provide us with information, files, and folders that
    you submit to Dropbox (together, 'your stuff'). You
    retain full ownership to your stuff. We don't claim
    any ownership to any of it. These Terms do not grant
    us any rights to your stuff or intellectual property
    except for the limited rights that are needed to run
    the Services, as explained below."

 Microsoft's SkyDrive service offers a similarly clear and
 rights-respecting section. They're much more specific about
 what they can and cannot do with your digital property.

 There is another section of the Google Drive ToS that a lot of
 people have said clears up any concerns over the issue:

   "Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You
    retain ownership of any intellectual property rights
    that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs
    to you stays yours."

 Essentially, Dropbox and SkyDrive say outright, "We don't own
 your stuff, and we can't do anything with it other than what's
 needed to provide the service you signed up for." Google Drive
 says something more like, "You still own your stuff, but we can
 do what we want with it."

Well, that's more or less what we've come to in some ways with the mortgage writedowns. So if the T&C are as long as a mortgage application, maybe that's long enough to challenge ;-)

I use google services whenever possible - it takes away the worry of wondering if there's something about me they don't know.

With Gmail for personal and business, Google Analytics, Android phone, Google Drive, Picasaweb photo sharing, GWT, Google Voice, Google Chat, Google Apps, Google calendar, Google Chrome, Google Maps (what am I leaving out?), I don't have to wonder whether or not Google knows about my sex life, financial status, personal and business connections, travel destinations, websites owned and visited, my loves and my lies. They just know and now I know they know.

I'm just the opposite of ergophobe, I use a lot of cloud and other services spread all over - I try to use anything but Google: Dropbox, Box.net, Evernote, various web based emails, Opera Browser etc., but somehow Google still know way more about me than I'm comfortable with PLUS so do all the others! :-)  I'm thinking you are on to something ergophobe!

Sigh.

@ 2much - I was an exclusive Mac user for years. The problem I have with them is that if you buy into too many of their products and services you eventually find yourself deep deep in a walled garden with no good way to migrate much of your info.  Still in return for that, most Mac things just work and they all play well together.