Beating Google
It seems that anyone I’ve talked to in the valley over the weekend has brought up the Google-endorsed reports of an upcoming “GDrive.” Here is my response to the following comments by Google:
As we move toward the “Store 100%” reality, the online copy of your data will become your Golden Copy and your local-machine copy serves more like a cache. An important implication of this theme is that we can make your online copy more secure than it would be on your own machine.
That is pretty exciting. Imagine being able to offload all of your data to the internet, where you could then access it from anywhere at anytime. Or, even better, you can synchronize your files to your webdrive so that in an emergency you will have a backup copy available. Sounds appealing, no? The only thing is… Box.net does that! So, what do we (and by we I mean Dylan, Ian, our developers, and I) have to do? We have to prove to the world that this is already available, and people are already enjoying the freedom that online file storage with Box.net provides. And, with our open API, there will never be a location where you can grab your Google files but not your Box files (except maybe gmail of course). In just a matter of days you will be able to login to your Netvibes account, upload files, then move over to your Goowy account and see those same files. Then, when you’re away from your computer, just jump onto m.box.net and share a file directly from your Treo.
All I can really say is, we’re prepared for the challenge, and understand that there is bumpy road ahead of us. What else could make this business more interesting than competition from Google? Ok enough with the G word.
-Aaron
Hi Aaron, your plans with Netvibes are interesting! Cooperations with online word processing companies (like Writely and in particular ZohoWriter) would be promising too!
March 6th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Hey Thomas,
Our doors are definitely open for those types of relationships. We have spoken with people at both Zoho and Writely… so we will see how those conversations progress.
-Aaron
March 6th, 2006 at 10:17 am
I guess what you have going for you isn’t so much the “we’ve been here before” factor… but the fear factor associated with Gdrive. Case in point: the negative feedback GDS 3 received for storing/ indexing one’s data online.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Zoli,
I completely agree as a technologist… but as a consumer, the appeal of free storage may be a bit too much to turn down simply because of a dubious privacy policy. I think the general nature of users will be to trust Google. What I can count on, at least initially, is that whatever they deploy will be lacking the features that our users really care about. Don’t worry- I’m not going to rely on any historical significance being our advantage when they launch. However, in the months up until they release their product, I’ll be pounding on everyone’s door saying look what we do… maybe this way it won’t be so special when they come out.
That’s also what Weber Shandwick’s job is. Jeremy, where are you
March 6th, 2006 at 11:27 am
I am rooting for you guys and I will continue to let all the classes that I TA for know about your wonderful free service.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Aaron,
Personally, I’ve long given up privacy in exchange for features and comfort … so I am (almost) with you. I’m using Gmail as my active archive even for non-gmail stuff. But there has always been a fine line between written/electronic and verbal communication – how many times do you call someone, and say things you’d rather not put in writing? Our harddisk contains are most private stuff, financial, health ..etc. information. Now, of course it’s all speculative, but wouldn’t people trust a company with a clearly subcription-based business plan more than the giant that’s all about slicing-dicing-indexing-reusing your information?
March 6th, 2006 at 11:49 am
Zoli,
The answer is: definitely… If someone made those differences apparent to them. I think the path of least resistance comes into play here… imagine going to the Google homepage and seeing “upload your files” - Left to their own devices, the regular user might take this bait. Do they realize (or care) that Google now has every bit of data available about their existence?
But yes, you are right in that there will still be a HUGE market that knows the value of paying for a service like ours. And we can always differentiate ourselves and focus on niche markets, similar to what 37signals is good at. The difference is, we started this company to focus on the “average consumer.” I think we really have to wait and see what Google does with this product… they could botch it, who knows.
During a chat with Dave Winer yesterday, the word “nimble” came up. That’s how we will survive. If someone wants a feature that makes sense for a good portion of our users, we build it that day. We’ll work one on one with developers who want to integrate us into their product. You get the point
March 6th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Oh, man, talk about Google, you have to read this:
http://tech.memeorandum.com/060306/p37#a060306p37
Unbelievable!
March 6th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Any news on the desktop sync coming up ?
Also, just a quick question : If I share a folder where there is my pics - and I make subfolders - will they be available too, under the first adress ?
Just to see how i will organize some of my file before I start!
Thanks guys,
Sebastien
March 6th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
It looks like the Sync will be able to come out tomorrow or Wed. Depends on how much work we can cram into tonight.
Zoli- glad to hear that Google messed up again…
March 6th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
[...] BTW, Mike Arrington has an excelent summary of what we know about G-Drive, and box.net has their own thoughts on their blog. Yeah Beating Google ain’t gonna happen. Find that hill and set up camp. [...]
March 7th, 2006 at 12:37 am
[...] Beating Google [...]
March 7th, 2006 at 1:15 am
Aaron,
What differentiates you from Strongspace?
March 7th, 2006 at 2:42 am
Dave’s right in that you need to find a way to differentiate and going vertical is the most sensible.
Write a plugin for iTunes or similar that will automatically back up your purchased music to an encrypted archive on your servers.
Encrypt. Encrypt. Encrypt. Avoid the problems with Google Desktop Search by not allowing the SYSTEM to index the material. I use an encrypted DMG on a remote server to provide myself with remote storage.
Think outside the box. Providing online storage has been done to death. Hook up with Norton for Ghost. Net-enabled PC restores using a bootable Live CD….hmmmm
While partnerships with Flickr or Writely might be desirable, the former is probably too big and the latter too small (small documents, think). You want to look at the areas where G-Drive will operate (huge amounts of storage) but really specialise. In other words - hide yourself. Plug-in for iMovie. or Avid Express. Or Windows MovieMaker…
March 7th, 2006 at 2:54 am
MJ-
All good points, however I didn’t start this business to hide myself. I started this business to build a brand. Sure, we want to be a backend for people, but not to be thought of simply as a provider of commodity storage (btw, to answer Sunny, that’s what strongspace is). There are already players that are doing the HUGE file stuff - look @ streamload’s basic package. There is demand for that, but it’s being served. One thing to note when you think of the point “providing online storage has been done to death,” we are the one’s providing it:
http://www.google.com/search?q=online+file+storage
*see result #3, that’s us.
Now, regarding partnerships with people like Norton- that’s on par with what we want to do. We’ll build some traction in the web community first, then approach these software/service providers with irrefutable evidence that we’re the people to go with. We think our sync software will be the killer app for box.net… or maybe in a month it will be a mapped drive… stay tuned, and we’ll all find out.
March 7th, 2006 at 3:23 am
As a end user, I would prefer Google’s free service (whenever it is out) over that of yours because a file size limit of 5 MB exists in your case.
It’s good to be the first, but if you want to remain first outperform Google w/ service that most (non-payers) care for.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:46 am
Sridhar,
The good news is… we are going to bump that 5MB limit to 10MB today. That’s only a “micro” response of course, but it’s the first step we can take. We won’t ever be able to offer unlimited upload size for free users because we will be overtaken by illegal file sharing.
If you think about it, the MAJORITY of important files (photos, documents, spreadsheets, etc) are all under 5-10MB. Some work-specific files (high res photos, CAD, videos, etc) can take up more space, but that is generally the type of use that should be paid for anyways.
March 7th, 2006 at 6:53 am
best of luck!
March 7th, 2006 at 8:36 am
I would bet that most people would say that their data is pretty much priceless. When I look at companies who provide such a service, the first thing I think about is, will this company exist tomorrow, next year, etc. I’ve got nothing to back me up, but I have a pretty good feeling that Google will be around for a long time. I have zero confidence that your company will be around for a long time. It’s a perception that I think alot of people have. Not saying it’s valid - just that it is.
March 7th, 2006 at 9:54 am
On Jeff’s point- that’s what I’m struggling with as I’m looking for what file storage service to go with. Will your company be around in 1 year, 5 years? What will happen to my data then? How confident should I feel that my most valued data will be around for a long time?
March 7th, 2006 at 10:01 am
Do you think Google is doing anything to not return search results around box.net? If you do a GOOG search on box.net there is one result. Yahoo has over 60. If nothing else it is interesting.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:29 am
The guy above who said, “Encrypt!” is talking my language. I would never use any external storage technique that didn’t encrypt in a way that I believed rendered my data impervious. Google will never see a single byte off my hard drive.
Indexing is important. Do it before encrypting and save the index on the user’s hard drive. (Of course, it would then be encrypted before it’s uploaded.)
Good luck.
tqii
March 7th, 2006 at 10:31 am
Jeff,
Interesting issue to bring up… I would hope we could get a bit more out of you than ‘zero confidence,’ but considering you don’t know our company very well, I’ll accept it. And yes, you are right, Google will be around for quite some time. But, then again, couldn’t this argument be used against any startup in any industry? We have seen many big businesses decide to dabble in certain markets then move on to the next interesting thing. Why? Because it is so easy for them. Box.net has a devoted team that is much more interested in your business than Google is. Call us up at 3AM sometime and find out.
To Lance, How are you! Regarding the search results, this is how google treats any query of just a domain… ex: http://www.google.com/search?q=google.com
March 7th, 2006 at 10:35 am
Aaron said “All good points, however I didn’t start this business to hide myself. I started this business to build a brand.”
Granted. But applying yourself to plug-ins can still allow you to build a brand. Especially if you get plug-ins for iPhoto, iMovie, MoveMaker..whatever. Export to box.net for example (although that’s not going to work if the file limit is below 10 MB for movies)
I think the brand is:
BOX•NET
Like Google,
but Private.
March 7th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
hehe Aaron #3 is Techcrunch not you :p
I posted on this: on my bog here
March 7th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
Yep, looks like we’re bouncing around today. It was there at one point on my screen
March 7th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
here’s another idea for you - There is a popular extension known as Scrapbook - which allows you to save down copies of sites / snippets. Given that you have an open api - it would be cool if Scrapbook could sync files with box.net. I’m thinking I scrapbook files here at work then sync, then head home and have the same files/sites on my home machine. I mention scrapbook specifically, but imagine if you could provide a greasemonkey interface or some other way that extensions could use box.net for their “persistent storage”
March 7th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Good point Andrew,
I use scrap book daily and as we work while travelling, knowing that i am able to easily sync my work on a daily basis is a huge relief.
scrapbook and box.net - now that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about it! i think its one (of many possible) approach that could definately max box.net stand out from the rest…
I gota say i am definately stoked with box.net’s service and customer focussed approach. That being said, i am still a google nutt and will most definately sign up once gdrive goes public, but i spose thats just coz i can
the diff between the two is i really enjoy using box.net’s slick interface and it makes backing up all my important docs fun (sad i know). I’ve also got a couple of our clients to sign up and use the service to transfer files as apposed to email and it works like a bomb!
Anywho, i’ve written a blog entry on stoker.thosedudes.com about box.net’s great service, as well as posted it on our joomla community site (joomlatips.com) under “noteworthy services” - so hopefully that will help with spreading the word
Keep up the great work!
Chris
March 7th, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Lance: that is because having a brand with a ‘.’ in it when you search for it Google thinks you are requesting information about the site as opposed to ’searching’ for it
March 8th, 2006 at 3:47 am
“Imagine being able to offload all of your data to the internet, where you could then access it from anywhere at anytime.”
… I am, and its a privacy nightmare as far as I am concerned. I’ll stick with my home VPN, thankyouverymuch
March 8th, 2006 at 9:29 am
One good impact of Google entering this space might mean better storage space for people who want privacy and are willling to pay for it.
You won’t have to be worried about P2P as this crowd might move towards Gdrive.
I remember how Gmail came out and suddenly all email providers were offering GB’s of space.
March 8th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Rishikesh,
Actually so far the google news has done nothing but great things for our business. If that can continue, even when they’ve launched, I’m happy to welcome them to the industry. You are right on your two points.
-
Aaron
March 8th, 2006 at 2:02 pm
I was using Fastmail when Gmail was launched and I am still using them because of the functionality they offer… only now I am using Gmail to filter my mailing lists emails
and then forward them to Fm
One point I did not add to my previous comment - after Gmail, many service providers were offering GB’s of space and none have gone out of business - things have only improved.
March 9th, 2006 at 5:58 am
The problem/question is to get people to think of storage not as a commodity, but as a service. That’s how we can beat Google. We plan to work very hard on that front…
March 9th, 2006 at 6:02 am
Amazing post; keep it up!
March 13th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
With Amazon’s new S3 service and GDrive, you might be a little late to the game. Remember, it’s all about Googlezon.
March 16th, 2006 at 12:13 am
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March 25th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
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March 25th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
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March 26th, 2006 at 10:35 pm
Hi Box.net,
I wish you guys the best, but I really doubt you can compete with Google on this one. I suggest expanding your services focusing on more full-service business backup services.
Best wishes,
Sam
March 30th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Hi Guys,
You should really public promote googles “privacy policy” and the failings that arise in it relating to “complete protection”. The thought of storing everything through google, and the fact that they “can view content to improve the customers experience” worries me. Imagine storing all your content with them? They would know everything about you and have access to it.
If I was you - focus on building up more cluster server arrangements and more space and PROMOTE the fact that your privacy policy is the BEST OF THE BEST. Only when you do this, will people realise that you guys are the real deal!
Good Luck
March 30th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
[...] So now we know (or can confirm) that Google are doing something in this space, but this isn’t really anything surprising as all the big web companies must be doing something in this space as hosted storage is inevitable. So what does the CEO of a startup online storage company make of all this? Well Aaron at Box.Net is arguing that Box is a solution that is here today, and they are ‘ready for the challenge’. My thoughts are as follows (this all applies with competing against the other big web companies as well, not just Google): [...]
April 17th, 2006 at 3:22 am
Make sure that box.net remains as long as we are here, we don’t need bigger file size limit than 5 MB. I am afraid if people start storing movies which will risk our files and valuable account at box.net. And Aaron should I start backuping my valuable doccuments and programming files in box.net rather then CD? does it cost that, I mean should I rely?
July 20th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
One more question, Is box.net going on profit? I am afraid in order to maintain compition box.net may go in loss and that day may be like a hard disk and CDs crash at a time for us. I pray god that day would never come and box.net will get millions of paid users.
July 20th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Increase the security for the uploaded files, like file locks,
or somethings like that, so that references outside the box can be secured more.
Lack of throughput.
August 15th, 2006 at 11:04 am
The heck with beating Google….they are no threat to anyone and besides competition brings out the best in business and in companies. Let’s not be docile here. Our concern should be beat the heck out of Comcast & Time Warner (and their soon to be “official” partnership? At least give them some competition. You want to know how to tell that they have ZERO competition and are a total monopoly with far and away the highest internet speeds for the buck. From their revues on Yelp they are one of the most hated companies around but everyone has em.
We can all have the greatest search engines, plugins, apps in the world but when they are controlled by one giganticorp they won’t be much fun now will they? Anyone remember Viacom Beating Down Google to win access to Youtubes users last summer? Comcast owns residential and is now whipping AT&T in the business sector for a good number of reasons 1. they are not considered a telecom company by the FCC although they push their Digital Voice first and foremost. I personally know so many businesses that are begging for a small to medium sized company (size doesn’t matter just so they aren’t monopolize the world) to offer them genuine & personal service.
Why do conspiracy theorist’s idea about chemtrails make more and more sense? Whenever the going gets rough on the home front Rupert, Mellon, etc. will have the news outlets barrage us with fear tactics, replacing ‘Orange Alerts’ w/the swine flu epidemic and Iran’s uprising. Ah well, AT&T in business is their biggest competitor but Comcast was a spin-off of AT&T…hmm. Meanwhile we’re just watching the wheels go round and round…..
“People say I’m crazy doing what I’m doing. Well they give me all kinds of warnings, to save me from ruin. When I say that I’m OK, well they look at me kind of strange, surely your not happy now, you no longer play the game” - Watching the Wheels, John Lennon
June 30th, 2009 at 9:01 am