From SkyDrive to Google Docs
I am well aware of the emerging plethora of offerings within the "cloud" document management space which has become prevalent. I am also aware of my misguided use of nouns and adverbs. However, after having beaten up SkyDrive yesterday, I decided I should go back and revisit Google Docs. So I busted out my gold tooth and shiniest pimp-slap ring and went on a house call to Google Docs as Mack Daddy Skatter-G.
Well, I was again hit with mixed feelings. Google Docs has a better layout, better navigation approach and easier structure to deal with, by far, than SkyDrive currently has. Again however, I'm confident the Live Team will improve SkyDrive soon to help remediate most of my complaints (not just for me, or even because of me, but because they're globally irritating).
Google Docs does a better job of online document authoring than anything else, while keeping it simple. Simple is the operative word. Nothing fancy. Amazing what you can do while keeping things simple. It's when you get the idea to haul lumber with this little scooter that you find what it's lacking. So here goes, and only the basic lackings...
- You can't upload or import Microsoft Office 2007 (or Mac Office 2008 either)
- You can't upload Adobe PDF files
- No linking between different spreadsheets
- Formatting of spreadsheet cells and columns is severely limited
- For more info on basic capabilities, click here.
So, I guess what I'm looking for is something that covers all this...
- Allows me to upload almost any file type and use it as general storage
- Provides enough online authoring features to develop docs, spreadsheets, presentations, and maybe diagrams in a browser
- Gives me at least 5 GB of space for free
- Doesn't blast me to death with embedded ads.
- Allows me to control sharing and read/edit rights
- Allows me to e-mail documents into my storage space
- Allows me to drag and drop files between folders, and folders within folders
- Allows me to enter metadata for files to help explain them and tag them for searching
This doesn't seem like rocket science to me. I've written code for over twenty years, in all sorts of languages and different platforms. This is not complicated. If I had some resources, I could get this done myself. I know plenty others that could as well (probably better than I for sure).
Next on my list: Office Live Workspace. I'm already taking a point away because Microsoft doesn't provide online authoring tools, you have to have Office installed to author and edit content. So it's sort of like SkyDrive with WebDAV hooks into Office. Oh well. This gives me something to complain about. So far, all this talk about "cloud" stuff is leaving me empty. It's got a lot of potential, but very little to show for it yet.