How a Google Drive Revival Would Help Your Work

This type of syncing is not new, and is specifically how Dropbox works. Sync a folder from your local hard drive to Dropbox and the files are loaded online. Every change you make to them is right away synced to the cloud. You can sync that same folder to another machine, allowing you to have identical content on multiple machines, as so then as accessing it from your smartphone or tablet, or downloading it to any other computer via the Web interface. Dropbox even provides a nice photo gallery, showing the first example of how a Web app layered onto your local data can behave.

Why would a business want its files in a cloud-synced Google Drive? If they do it right, by copying Dropbox feature by feature, there are a number of reasons why Google Drive would be desirable.

Portability: With your files stored locally and in the cloud, you have access to them whenever you need. On a plane and don't want to pay for Wi-Fi? No problem; use the copy stored on your local hard drive. In the car and only have your smartphone? Easy, access the files through 3G/4G. At a friend's house and don't have any of your devices with you? Use their computer to download a version from the Web, or edit within Google Docs.

The cloud may be Google's destination for all of us

Though the cloud may be Google's destination for all of us, many would be happy with something in-between, allowing the best of both worlds. Being able to work in the cloud when it makes sense, yet after all work with local files and programs, is a comfortable balance that gives you flexibility in how you work and assures you of your data's portability. With a properly designed Google Drive, this could be our future. And during Google has their own reasons for making it happen, you and your business can benefit, as so then.