Clouds are awesome.
You can lie out on a pretty day and look up at the sky, imagining the shapes and objects each cloud looks like.
They protect us from the sun, provide us rain to run around in and also give us cool words like “cumulonimbus.”
These days, the term “cloud” also refers to storing and sharing your data online.
In a nutshell, cloud storage refers to saving data to a company’s server which can be accessed remotely from numerous devices with Internet connection.
Basically, you can save stuff online and access it almost wherever you want.
Many companies, small and large, provide cloud storage services: Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive, Amazon Cloud Drive, Wuala, Cubby and Apple iCloud, just to name a few.
A big name missing from that list is Google.
That all changed last week when Google released its version of cloud storage, Google Drive.
The service could be potentially big for University students due to its ease of access and use with TigerMail (which is Gmail).
Google Drive offers five gigabytes of free storage to everyone, which can be used to save almost any type of file.
While this may not sound different from other similar services, Google Drive distinguishes itself with its search capabilities. Not only can users quickly search within files uploaded to Drive, they can also search on scanned text in images uploaded, using character recognition running in Google Cloud.
Since so many people, including University students, are already connected through Gmail, upgrading to Drive is a breeze.
Not only does it work on Google-based services, Drive can also be downloaded to your PC or Mac.
Once activated, a folder appears on your desktop, and users simply drag the files they want saved on their drive. The files are copied and accessible on any other computer connected to the Internet.
Google Drive is also available on Android devices, of course, with an iOS version to be released “in the coming weeks,” according to a Google spokesman.
There’s been no word on Windows Phone or Blackberry versions yet.
With Google and Apple being such competitors in the tech industry, their products will always be compared to one another.
iCloud officially launched last year, syncing Macs, iPhones, iPads and basically any other device with an “i” in front of it. However, Apple doesn’t allow users the same type of control or access into its iCloud.
Sure, the service is very easy to use – it’s an Apple product, after all – but there isn’t much transparency there. Users can’t really delve too much into the inner-workings of iCloud.
Google Drive allows users more access to the files saved on the service, but it may be more daunting at first to someone unfamiliar with cloud storage.
If you’re looking for an online backup that automatically saves all of your files on your computer to the cloud in case of accidental deletes or file corruptions, Google Drive doesn’t appear to be there yet.
Services like Dropbox or Apple’s Time Machine may be a better solution, since those save not only your current files, but older versions of your files as well, in case of emergency.
Google entering the cloud storage game just means another heated competition between these tech giants for the users’ hard-earned dollar.
What’s great right now, however, is all of the services I’ve mentioned in this column offer free storage that is upgradable later.
While Apple users will stick with iCloud because they have to, Google Drive seems like an obvious choice for heavy Google/Android users, and SkyDrive is great for those with Windows Phone.
I’m just kidding. No one actually uses a Windows Phone.
Adam Arinder is a 22-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
 
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