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Is it a foregone conclusion that GDrive will marginalize Dropbox, or is it only me?

I'm already heavily invested in Google's infrastructure so as soon as there is a Google Drive sync tool for Linux I won't have a use for Dropbox anymore.

Although I still have a Box.com account that Titanium backup syncs to because of free 50G giveaway they had recently, but that's all I use it for right now.
 
Well, I still use my work email and Yahoo, despite having a Gmail account. So far I haven't used Google Docs much either.

The one thing that would make me switch is the ability to give file access to people without a requirement for them to register. Is that possible with Google Drive? It is not possible with Dropbox, I don't think. Or at least I can't figure out how to do it.

It makes it very annoying to share files via Dropbox. I had a 50 MB PowerPoint files that I needed to share for example, but didn't want to force my colleagues to register. Ultimately I just used a USB drive. For a guy outside my workplace, I may just end up mailing him a CD-R.
 
Eug said:
Well, I still use my work email and Yahoo, despite having a Gmail account. So far I haven't used Google Docs much either.

The one thing that would make me switch is the ability to give file access to people without a requirement for them to register. Is that possible with Google Drive? It is not possible with Dropbox, I don't think. Or at least I can't figure out how to do it.

It makes it very annoying to share files via Dropbox. I had a 50 MB PowerPoint files that I needed to share for example, but didn't want to force my colleagues to register. Ultimately I just used a USB drive. For a guy outside my workplace, I may just end up mailing him a CD-R.
Click to expand...

give people access to files w/o registering? You could do it with Dropbox AND google drive

problem with Google Drive is privacy.... AFAIK, google is going to scan through your documents and present advertisements based on it (LMK if i'm wrong).... might not want to store your tax returns there?
 
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My issue with "investing" to a new service, is I always wonder whether that company will stand the test of time. I got burned by buying some DRM music from, ah, can't even remember that service but it was bundled with the Dell DJ mp3 player software and backed by someone big, I think Yahoo. The company was discontinued and the music stopped working.

Anyway, now I think the same will happen for Dropbox. Essentially, they strike me as a company founded around a commodity service, that anyone else can offer. So, dropbox will be likely to end up in a war of attrition, race to the bottom situation, and go out of business. Might take a while to lose the inertia from being a first-mover, but that's just a matter of time.

Unlike one-trick-pony companies like Dropbox, someone like Google or Microsoft or other big companies that are viable for other fundamental reasons will stick around and not be doomed if they race to the bottom for that particular service. They are able to charge the rock-bottom (even break-even) prices for the service, whereas dropbox - wouldn't they have to charge a bit of a premium to make a profit, and that charge will be disproportionate because they derive all their business from that one source/service?

If you bet your existence on a commodity service that everyone else can offer, you are doomed to lose out on the ability to charge a profit.

But maybe I'm misunderstanding what dropbox is - are they more than a dumb locker/storage/commodity that everyone else can offer?

Edit: Oh, almost forgot - I still haven't committed to an online storage service, but I'm very pleased with using Google Music to put all my music on the cloud and get the ability to play all my collection on my phone, even though my phone memory can't store it all. Same with google documents, my wife and I share lots of organizational documents, such as a list of movies we want to rent, we both add to it using our phones, and if either of us visits a Redbox, we can easily pick up the DVDs we want to rent. I think for me, Google Drive makes perfect sense, and it integrates with Android phones etc.
 
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Yeah Kingfatty, your post makes alot of sense, thank you for providing that.

Yes Google intends to data mine the shit out of your Google Drive, so actually, that may become Dropboxes "pièce de resistánce."

To Blain : *throws up his GDrive signs* 😉
 
I use a ton of Google services and have an Android phone and tablet but I don't really see any reason to give up dropbox and move to drive.
 
Nothinman said:
Why wouldn't they do that up front instead of producing and releasing Drive and then buying up the competition?
Click to expand...

either Dropbox wasn't willing to sell (or wanted a super high premium.... look at instagram with no clear revenue)

or Google can't successfully import Dropbox architecture / servers successfully into their own architecture, and thus start from scratch
 
paperwastage said:
either Dropbox wasn't willing to sell (or wanted a super high premium.... look at instagram with no clear revenue)

or Google can't successfully import Dropbox architecture / servers successfully into their own architecture, and thus start from scratch
Click to expand...

It was mostly a rhetorical question because if Google were talking to Dropbox about a buyout you would have thought there would at least be rumors about it but I don't remember hearing anything.
 
Nothinman said:
It was mostly a rhetorical question because if Google were talking to Dropbox about a buyout you would have thought there would at least be rumors about it but I don't remember hearing anything.
Click to expand...

probably NDA and all parties kept their mouths shut? 😀

But it looks like Google has just been extending/combining storage space across GMail / Photos / Docs.... doesn't make sense to buy dropbox when they already have an existing infrastructure from GDocs/GMail, and don't need the user push when so many people already use GDocs/GMail already
 
I don't think just Gdrive will do it. But combine Skydrive, Gdrive, iCloud, plus all the other cloud storage competition they had, and it's not a pretty picture.

If you've gone Apple--iCloud may fulfill the role Dropbox would have played, and certainly will alleviate a lot of storage concerns, so maybe you only use the free version.
If MS puts some more finishing touches on Skydrive (per device sync options, order the damn pictures by name or date taken), then between W8/W8 RT, W7+app, WP7/8, and probably the Xbox as well, well...
And if you are already a Google user across the board between Gmail, Docs, Music (Play), throw in Chrome/Android/Linux, it's a pretty clear choice.

Dropbox will most likely putter along for a while unless they can add some more features to diffrentiate themselves. In their favor, they have a sleek running system already. Add some more like optional encryption, read/write permissions for shared folders, a better online gallery, etc and they could still have a place for someone who is maybe cross-platform or doesn't want all their eggs in one basket.
 
paperwastage said:
probably NDA and all parties kept their mouths shut? 😀

But it looks like Google has just been extending/combining storage space across GMail / Photos / Docs.... doesn't make sense to buy dropbox when they already have an existing infrastructure from GDocs/GMail, and don't need the user push when so many people already use GDocs/GMail already
Click to expand...

I wasn't saying they should buy Dropbox, that was GWestphal.
 
I am deep within Google's apps so I am stoked about Google Drive but since it took them forever to come out, I have been using Dropbox entirely. I have more space than I need (right now) for both services so if the day comes I run out of space on Dropbox, I'll just start migrating stuff over to GDrive. It's like having two hard drives.
 
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