I couldn’t resist writing my own something about Google Drive today. Cloud storage is hot this week, and the foreseeable future. Google didn’t get it right out of the gate, most don’t. But I can tell you that Google Drive will become common cloud storage for a lot of people.

Dropbox is the 800 pound gorilla in cloud storage for consumers, and doesn’t have a lot to worry about at the moment. But the one thing that keeps cloud storage services like Dropbox, SugarSync and Google Drive from really getting all my content is file size. Limit me to a couple hundred MB or less and I just can’t fully integrate your service. I’d even pay for the large storage service if you would up the file size.

* I know some services will allow for larger files with premium accounts. *

Several of the services allow for any size file uploads using the desktop, and that’s fine, but I don’t use a desktop all the time. In fact I’m using one less and less. There is still a lot of room for improvement, and I know it’s coming. I hope. Security and privacy still remains an issue with most services, mainly because the terms of service or use state the service has access to your data and can do what ever they want with it. You may not like this, but don’t let that deter you.

Photo courtesy of sebastiankippe

This is a big win for those who already have a SkyDrive account, you can be grandfathered into a 25GB plan, everyone else will be offered a 7GB plan. I’ve had my SkyDrive account for years but there hasn’t been any integration with the desktop (not Mac anyway), and no mobile use antil just recently.

SkyDrive is available everywhere I travel; laptop and mobile.

There are a few quirky things about the interface. The layout isn’t like Windows Explorer, or Mac Finder. Files and folders are represented by big blocky icons, no detail list. And even weirder was they stuck the mechanism to change from large icons to small icons in the Pull Down process to refresh the screen.

Why do I think this is a serious player? Because aside from Android, which I’m sure is on the way, SkyDrive now integrates with all your systems, and you get more space. Microsoft says a study they did indicates most user have less than 7GB of data stored in the cloud, and that may be true, but the the big reason I don’t have as much as I want in the cloud, is the file size limitation. I would push video files to the the cloud drives if most didn’t limit to 100MB or less. That’s a service imposed limit, not a user issue.

Limitations aside, 25GB is a lot of space, and I intend on using it, all of it. Get a SkyDrive and software here.

I can’t say I’m a big fan of Windows 8, at least until I spend more time learning the new features.

Looking at this problem from their point of view, with pretty weak noise control, Google+ would quickly turn into an out of control Twitter. The sad part is the difficulty of preventing people from abusing the API. Throttling and whitelisting seem to be common solutions to this problem, but there is no guarantee the user of a white listed app won’t abuse it.

I’ll take the hassle of having to manually post until Google can figure it out.

View on iPhone

View on iPad

I also have a large pile of books that I’ve read and probably won’t read again. If you are interested in any of them, can we trade for something you’ve read and probably won’t read again. Here is my list:

7th Son: Descent
The 4-Hour Work Week
The Rise of the Creative Class
Now, Discover Your Strengths
Beyond The Call of Duty
Just a Geek
Linchpin
The Dip
The Power of Charm
Trust Agents
Blue Kingdoms Shades & Spectors
Pirates of the Blue Kingdoms
Rework
Twittfaced
Notes from a small island
The why of Work
The Narrow Road
Killing Giants
Eat People

I’m interested in any political thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, comics and graphic novels, and business books. I could even go for something in photography that isn’t camera specific. Thanks.

Is Steve Balmer Actually Surprised At The Crappy Windows Phone 7 Sales?
Steve, you have to actually build a brand, a community, and a solid app store before you can start to capture market share. Oh, and if you have to battle the retail sales folks for pushing people away from your product, you will have an even harder time selling your product. You have some serious holes in your plan. Read more here: http://thom.ws/qgZ7yI

MOG Launches Free Version Of Music Service
MOG announced today that they are offering an ad-supported free version of their music service. The interesting thing here is they are trying to gamify the service, giving users free music,  based on the amount of sharing, playlist creation, and the number of referrals to the service. This could be interesting. According to their press release “Tastemakers and influencers can easily get a lifetime of free on-demand music.” Read more here: http://thom.ws/o4P0CC

Chegg Buys Zinch In A Move Towards A Social Education Platform
You may not have heard of either of these companies, but they are leaders in their own industries. Chegg is an online book rental service for college students, and Zinch is an online service that connects high school students with college recruiters. On the surface, this is an odd acquisition, but more and more companies are buying complimentary services and products to increase their over all sales. Read more here: http://thom.ws/nvLUNG

Samsung Wants To Own Your First, Second, And Third Screen
Samsung is making a push to build technology that directly competes with Apple and it’s AirPlay technology. The company has had some success in the past, but this push could be fueled by the back and forth patent infringement claims made by both Apple and Samsung. Read more here: http://thom.ws/qZK9T4