Most people know I’m a fan of most things Google. I use a lot, even before Google bought Writely, the original to Google Docs. I’m currently using it to write a manuscript, after having written CSS code to simulate a standard manuscript format. I use the spreadsheet capability to track hours for updating a company’s website, and oodles of other stuff.
Google Docs has now upgraded their system to allow you to upload ANYTHING. You automatically get 1GB of storage, and that’s over and above your regular Google Docs-formatted stuff. The great thing is that if you want to really load stuff up there, you can buy additional storage pretty cheap. 20GB will cost you $5 per year.
You can share these files and whole folders, too. But if they’re not in Google Docs format, you can’t collaborate on them, which only seems right to me. What I like is that you can upload a Word .doc file, uncheck the “convert to Google Docs” box, and your original formatting is maintained, something GDocs can’t do natively now.
I uploaded a .mp3, which you can’t play from the storage location, only download, a .php file, and a proprietary file extension from a piece of software I use. All uploaded just fine and downloaded to a different computer just as easily.
The only thing that doesn’t seem to be working (for me, anyway) is being able to see how much storage space I’m using now. The instructions claimed there would be a setting visible, but I’m not seeing it.
Previously, I hesitated to suggest to authors to use Google Docs as a backup for their manuscript, because Docs would automatically reformat their document, making it impossible to restore to the proper format easily.
Now, however, I see no reason why we shouldn’t use the free storage, and with the cheap upgrade options, consider keeping backups online all the time. After all, it’s not safe to run back into a burning house to rescue your thumb drive.