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September 13, 2011

Google Drive, a New Name for the Google Docs Homepage?

TechCrunch has recently reported that the subdomain drive.google.com has been added to a Chrome file and a Google Docs message includes a reference to Google Drive.



The source code of Google Docs files has many messages related to "Google Drive", but all of them have one thing in common: they replace similar messages that include "Documents List". Here are two examples: "items haved been removed from your Documents List" / "items haved been removed from your Google Drive", "Add to my Documents List" / "Add to My Google Drive".


This suggests that Google Drive could be the new name of the Google Docs List, while Google Docs could be detached from the file storage interface and only be an online office suite. Google Docs is not the right name for an online storage application that lets you upload not just documents, but also music, videos, archives, photos and other files. Hopefully, the rebranding will bring more free storage, file syncing apps for mobile and desktop and integration with third-party apps.

Steven Levy's "In the Plex" included an interesting story about Google Drive being superseded by Google Docs because "files are so 1990". Google's Sundar Pichai said that "when people use our Google Docs, there are no more files. You just start editing in the cloud, and there's never a file." Google Drive might be a better name for a service that stores user files, whether they're created using Web apps, mobile apps or desktop apps.

13 comments:

  1. let's hope for a desktop sync app too in the future. :)

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  2. They should offer for more storage, I think iOS5 has over 5GB free space compared to google's 1GB.

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  3. I thing that google will give you much more storage in the future then IOS5 even in GMAIL you allready have 8GB

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  4. Lots more strings in there:
    Faa = " for your desktop"
    dba = " items haved been removed from your Documents List."
    eba = " items haved been removed from your Google Drive."
    Pba = '" has been added to your Documents List.'
    Qba = '" has been added to your Google Drive.'
    $ba = '" has been removed from your Documents List.'
    aca = '" has been removed from your Google Drive.'
    gha = "Add storage..."
    hha = "Add to My Google Drive"
    iha = "Add to my Documents List"
    ne = "Add to playlist"
    Jja = "Loading related docs..."
    Nf = "My Google Drive"
    Of = "My collections"
    Pf = "My folders"
    Xka = "No music found."
    Yka = "No photos or videos found."
    Zka = "No photos."
    ala = "No related docs"
    cla = "No response text for uri "
    gla = "No videos."
    Sla = "Remove from My Google Drive"
    Tla = "Remove from my Documents List"
    Ula = "Remove star"
    Zla = "Restore to Documents List"
    $la = "Restore to My Google Drive"
    boa = "View caption tracks..."
    Bs="uploadmenu-download-drive"

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  5. This looks great, thanks. I'm most interested in the ruler function. With the re-design, will there be any ability to edit docs on the iPad?

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  6. Actually, as an online service, Docs blows any other I know of out of the water. It's dirth cheap, it streams video, it can store anything you throw at it under 10GB, even if you can't edit a document you can view it and copy from it (rather than downloading it), it's available both in the web and in mobile apps.....and it's updated regularly so more and more features keep coming.

    I'd say that the only things lacking are more free storage, better Android integration (I don't see and "upload to Docs" option and I'm almost crying for it) and better ability to view/stream music files and photos.


    The main reason people don't use it is that they think "it's only for Docs!" Every time I hear that, I want to scream.

    What Google needs is a place where you can control the storage of everything. For example, now to move photos from Docs to Picasa you to download them and upload them again, which is ridiculous.

    I also turn out to have my music backed up in Docs. When they announced Google Music, I thought it was cool - then I realized that I would have to upload everything AGAIN!

    Also, to send Docs as attachments, you cannot do it from Gmail. You can only do it from Docs, and only one at a time, and the emails don't show up in your "Sent" label. So you end up downloading your files and attaching them - and they call it "cloud".

    In sort, Google needs to integrate its services....with themselves. And to change the name of Docs to Drive. Really, the service it awesome as it is, but people think of "Docs" and they don't get that they can store all their torrented movies!

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  7. Lets hope they start to roll out offline mode for google docs soon.

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  8. looks like dropbox/ubuntu one alternative to me..

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  9. 'There is no file'. Really? It may be in the cloud, but there is still a list down the left of..wait for it...files.

    What a flawed theory.

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  10. "...as an online service, Docs blows any other... Google needs to integrate its services..."

    Couldn't agree with you more, anon. On the other hand, Lo0m, think twice before using dropbox/ubuntu one: shaky privacy:
    -dropbox encrypts on their servers (iow, your public key is in their possession)
    -ubuntu one incorporates no encryption(!)

    We moved to SpiderOak. It's cross-platform but more importantly; Encryption/decryption takes place on your client (iow, your public key is held by you).

    Looking forward to Google Drive but probably for just the less sensitive doc.

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  11. A very needed feature that is still missing is OFFLINE EDITING of Google Docs on the PC and especially Android.
    Who really has Internet access 24 hrs a day, hiking on a mountain, on a camping tour, traveling in Laos or in some subway systems?

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