Google Drive - The new Google Docs

With its foray into cloud storage space, google drive promises another alternative to the already growing market of cloud drives, including the popular ones like Microsoft SkyDrive, Apple's iCloud, Dropbox, and Box.

With 5GB free space, collaboration and folder sync features; it is placed well amongst the competitors and somewhat ahead with its pricing model (25GB is $2.49 per month and 100GB is $4.99 per month).

Whether this would make any noticeable dent in the existing consumer base for dropbox or other vendors is still to be seen. Google drive's vision seems to be more than just cloud based storage.  You can find some feature function comparisons here and here.  Where google drive stands out from its competitors, is how it has and will take the cloud storage to next level. It is not just a cloud file sync system. The areas that are most promising and should grow in the next few years are -

1. Search - With OCR, face tagging and plethora of other technologies google can sort, search, tag and identify key pieces of information from your documents, images, videos etc and use such information within their services. 
2. Ecosystem - With many providers such as Balsamiq, Docusign already integrated with Google drive, the ecosystem will grow further in the coming years.
3. Google docs - With drive, google docs will grow to provide more online editing and storage capabilities for your files, images and videos.  
4. Chrome OS - Chrome OS is google effort to move all the data onto the web. Google drive will ( or can ) be the native file store for Chrome OS.

There are some concerns with the terms of service (TOS) that still need to be understood fully before consumers and businesses plan to put all their data on google drive. 

Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours. 

When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.

Summary

With the first release, google drive seems like a natural evolution for google docs and a promising new service. With a fast growing ecosystem and integration with other cloud based services Google ultimately wants to be the one stop shop for its consumers, from mobile phones (android), tvs (google tv), os (chrome os) to searches( google search everywhere ). Does anyone remember Google used to be synonymous with Search at one point of time!