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[crosspost from the French translation thread - now that we have the official details, I think this comment is better discussed here.] So the things Google Dri

[crosspost from the French translation thread - now that we have the official details, I think this comment is better discussed here.] So the things Google Drive has that Dropbox doesn't: * 2-factor authentication! * Comments on files * OCR - like Evernote, you can search against text in images (e.g. newspaper article) * Image recognition - if you upload a pic of the Eiffel Tower, you can find it with the search term "eiffel tower" * Web-based file viewer - 30 file types including HD video, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. The OCR and image recognition are going to be killer features for "normal" people. And I imagine it's something Dropbox can't easily duplicate (unlike the other features). Then again, as a more privacy-minded technical person, the image recognition feature scares the beejezus out of me. Tagging faces on Facebook is one thing, but being able to semantically identify all contents of my images is really stepping up the creepiness quotient. Should be interesting to see how Dropbox responds.

ConstantineXVI 15y ago
Creepy, but IMHO necessary. We take the ability to search text for granted; there's no reason we shouldn't be expanding the same capabilities to images if we can.
rogerbinns 15y ago
We should also have list going the other - things Dropbox has that GDrive doesn't: * Linux support * Headless (command line interface) * Public bug tracking and feature requests (votebox) Unsure about these * Shared folders I'm struggling to come up with more.
- jganetsk 15y ago
  Google Drive definitely has shared folders.
- icebraining 15y ago
  If the API allows, I give it a week tops for the first two to appear on Github.
  - pmr_ 15y ago
    Google currently isn't winning the price for cool APIs. There is still nothing decent for G+. Are there any news on how an API for Drive is supposed to look like?
    - johns 15y ago
      https://developers.google.com/drive/ https://developers.google.com/drive/
- patrickk 15y ago
  "Linux support ... Headless (command line interface) Most normal (non-techie) users aren't going to care about these though. I can see the OCR being a big win among college students...scan in all your handwritten notes, and boom! they're all indexed and searchable and won't get lost before you need them for your final exam.
  - EvilTerran 15y ago
    OCR doesn't mean handwriting recognition, though... handwriting's a heck of a lot harder than print.
    - patrickk 15y ago
      I was wondering about that as I was typing...damn that would be cool to have. If lots of people's handwriting was scanned in and used as a training dataset, that could be a way to do it on Google scale - like what they did with Google voice, training it for all different accents.
    - robryan 15y ago
      Google are probably best placed to pull it off though with recaptcha.
    - tomkarlo 15y ago
      Actually, Evernote's OCR does handwriting, and at least for me, does it pretty well. It's not going to give you a transcription, but it's good enough that the doc will show up if you're searching for it.
      - evgen 15y ago
        That is probably because the Evernote founders were the team that developed the CalliGrapher cursive recognition engine which was used by the Apple Newton back in the day.
        tomkarlo 15y ago
- TheCowboy 15y ago
  Dropbox possibly has better customer support compared to Google's possibly non-existent customer support.
  - nhebb 15y ago
    This is the single biggest issue I have. I wouldn't say I distrust Google, but I don't trust them enough to store my documents with them. Algorithmic lockout happens with their other services, and with no customer service resource that I could contact, using their service seems to risky to justify the cost savings.
  - rogerbinns 15y ago
    My one experience with Dropbox support was not positive: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3885618 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3885618
    - TheCowboy 15y ago
      Wow. Hopefully some healthy competition will force them to reconsider their policy on shared folders.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- richardlblair 15y ago
  And Dropbox doesn't use/steal your data. So really that is an argument for Dropbox by it self. It also kinda of nulls "* 2-factor authentication!" because what is authentication if your data isn't safe? +1 Dropbox
  - mayanksinghal 15y ago
    > steal While I understood the sentiment of distrust that many put in giving more information to Google that they can _use_ to show targeted advertisements, usage of the verb _steal_ makes me angry. What I am not sure about is whether I am being irrational because I am biased towards Google (while also using, loving and respecting Dropbox) or everyone else here seems to have the same sentiment because (1) Dropbox is YC backed (2) It is a little-guy vs big-mafia war.
  - mangodrunk 15y ago
    Are you forgetting or not aware of security issues with Dropbox where a bug made passwords optional for four hours[1], some people claiming that it's not secure by design [2], and mislead customers about security policies [3]. I don't know how relevant these issues are today, but you're claims make it seem like that have a perfect record. [1] http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/dropbox-security-bug-made-passwords-optional-for-four-hours/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/dropbox-security-bug-made-p... [2] http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static-host-ids/ http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static... [3] http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/security/229500683 http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/security/2295006...
    - richardlblair 15y ago
      Hey mangodrunk. Thanks for taking the time to put together citations. I was aware of the first item on your list and I was impressed with how Dropbox handled the situation. Everyone have bugs, but it's how you deal with these things that speak volumes to me. I haven't heard of the other 2 things on your list, but I'll take the time to read them thoroughly. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. Obviosuly privacy is something important to me, so knowing all the facts is important. That being said, when it comes to TOS, Dropbox is far more attractive.
- rplnt 15y ago
  Google has a huge history of shutting down services or at least dramatically changing their pricing model (even from free to expensive).
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
- Drbble 15y ago
  A file sync utility exposes data via the filesystem. What more headless do you need? And API for manipulating sharing ACLs and sync parameters? I bet someone will reverse engineer the client/protocol to enable those features that are currently GUI managed.

ConstantineXVI 15y ago

Creepy, but IMHO necessary. We take the ability to search text for granted; there's no reason we shouldn't be expanding the same capabilities to images if we can.

rogerbinns 15y ago

We should also have list going the other - things Dropbox has that GDrive doesn't: * Linux support * Headless (command line interface) * Public bug tracking and feature requests (votebox) Unsure about these * Shared folders I'm struggling to come up with more.

jganetsk 15y ago
Google Drive definitely has shared folders.
icebraining 15y ago
If the API allows, I give it a week tops for the first two to appear on Github.
- pmr_ 15y ago
  Google currently isn't winning the price for cool APIs. There is still nothing decent for G+. Are there any news on how an API for Drive is supposed to look like?
  - johns 15y ago
    https://developers.google.com/drive/ https://developers.google.com/drive/
patrickk 15y ago
"Linux support ... Headless (command line interface) Most normal (non-techie) users aren't going to care about these though. I can see the OCR being a big win among college students...scan in all your handwritten notes, and boom! they're all indexed and searchable and won't get lost before you need them for your final exam.
- EvilTerran 15y ago
  OCR doesn't mean handwriting recognition, though... handwriting's a heck of a lot harder than print.
  - patrickk 15y ago
    I was wondering about that as I was typing...damn that would be cool to have. If lots of people's handwriting was scanned in and used as a training dataset, that could be a way to do it on Google scale - like what they did with Google voice, training it for all different accents.
  - robryan 15y ago
    Google are probably best placed to pull it off though with recaptcha.
  - tomkarlo 15y ago
    Actually, Evernote's OCR does handwriting, and at least for me, does it pretty well. It's not going to give you a transcription, but it's good enough that the doc will show up if you're searching for it.
    - evgen 15y ago
      That is probably because the Evernote founders were the team that developed the CalliGrapher cursive recognition engine which was used by the Apple Newton back in the day.
      - tomkarlo 15y ago
TheCowboy 15y ago
Dropbox possibly has better customer support compared to Google's possibly non-existent customer support.
- nhebb 15y ago
  This is the single biggest issue I have. I wouldn't say I distrust Google, but I don't trust them enough to store my documents with them. Algorithmic lockout happens with their other services, and with no customer service resource that I could contact, using their service seems to risky to justify the cost savings.
- rogerbinns 15y ago
  My one experience with Dropbox support was not positive: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3885618 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3885618
  - TheCowboy 15y ago
    Wow. Hopefully some healthy competition will force them to reconsider their policy on shared folders.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
richardlblair 15y ago
And Dropbox doesn't use/steal your data. So really that is an argument for Dropbox by it self. It also kinda of nulls "* 2-factor authentication!" because what is authentication if your data isn't safe? +1 Dropbox
- mayanksinghal 15y ago
  > steal While I understood the sentiment of distrust that many put in giving more information to Google that they can _use_ to show targeted advertisements, usage of the verb _steal_ makes me angry. What I am not sure about is whether I am being irrational because I am biased towards Google (while also using, loving and respecting Dropbox) or everyone else here seems to have the same sentiment because (1) Dropbox is YC backed (2) It is a little-guy vs big-mafia war.
- mangodrunk 15y ago
  Are you forgetting or not aware of security issues with Dropbox where a bug made passwords optional for four hours[1], some people claiming that it's not secure by design [2], and mislead customers about security policies [3]. I don't know how relevant these issues are today, but you're claims make it seem like that have a perfect record. [1] http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/dropbox-security-bug-made-passwords-optional-for-four-hours/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/20/dropbox-security-bug-made-p... [2] http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static-host-ids/ http://dereknewton.com/2011/04/dropbox-authentication-static... [3] http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/security/229500683 http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/security/2295006...
  - richardlblair 15y ago
    Hey mangodrunk. Thanks for taking the time to put together citations. I was aware of the first item on your list and I was impressed with how Dropbox handled the situation. Everyone have bugs, but it's how you deal with these things that speak volumes to me. I haven't heard of the other 2 things on your list, but I'll take the time to read them thoroughly. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. Obviosuly privacy is something important to me, so knowing all the facts is important. That being said, when it comes to TOS, Dropbox is far more attractive.
rplnt 15y ago
Google has a huge history of shutting down services or at least dramatically changing their pricing model (even from free to expensive).
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
Drbble 15y ago
A file sync utility exposes data via the filesystem. What more headless do you need? And API for manipulating sharing ACLs and sync parameters? I bet someone will reverse engineer the client/protocol to enable those features that are currently GUI managed.