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"Web storage sites loom as next big thing" (c|net)
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,38312,00.html?st.ne.fd.gif.f
Nice article that surveys the current players in the field (iMacFloppy,
Visto, MyDocsOnline, Freediskspace.com), and highlights a growing trend
towards using a remote server for storage of files.
The article stresses the data reliability advantages of these sites over
floppy disks (or local hard drive storage), noting that they are more likely
to be backed up, and aren't as susceptible to theft.
But, what seems to be the big win for these sites is collaboration, an area
that only MyDocOnline seems to be exploiting. After all, why go to the
bother of storing data remotely unless you want to share it with another
collaborator? Despite the data reliability problem, a local hard drive
still has the big advantage that you don't have to be connected to the
network to access your data. If the network goes down, you still have your
data. You'd only go to the trouble to store your data remotely if you needed
to hand it off to someone else.
Of course, once you realize these sites are all about collaboration, the
next step is to add WebDAV support <http://www.webdav.org/> so that users of
Office 2000, and other DAV-enabled clients can collaboratively work on
documents at the site. But, so far, none of these services seem to offer
DAV support, leaving the field open for a new entrants who understand the
collaboration angle...
- Jim
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