Will GDrive Soon Replace your Hard Drive?

I've noticed a lot of buzz on the tech news wires in the past few days about the oft-rumored Google GDrive possibly being released soon. It's unclear why the stories are cropping up now: Google neither confirms or denies the rumors. And headlines swirling around the Internet, like "Google's Rumored GDrive May 'Kill' the PC" and "Throw your hard drive away, Google's GDrive arrives in 2009," are a bit alarming. So what is GDrive, and is the PC really on its way out?

GDrive is (apparently) Google's next foray into the cloud-computing arena. According to a report on the technology site TG Daily  Gdrive is basically a cloud-based storage that should have two faces: a desktop client that keeps local and online files and folders in two-directional sync via a web interface for accessing your desktop files anywhere and anytime, using any network-enabled computer. In addition, it will come tightly integrated with other Google services to enable editing of supported document types...

Google's efforts to convince computer users of the benefits of storing information on the web rather than the hard drive are definitely making progress. Software products such as Google Mail, Google Apps and Picasa are becoming more and more popular and have persuaded many that storing data and documents on drives in a home computer or business network is out of date.
But still, the thought of putting all your data under someone else's control is a bit unnerving—don't you think?

In a recent article in "The Guardian",  Peter Brown, Executive Director of the Free Software Foundation, a charity defending computer users' liberties, is quoted as agreeing with the convenience the GDrive would offer, but added, "It's a little bit like saying, 'we're in a dictatorship, the trains are running on time.' But does it matter to you that someone can see everything on your computer? Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to hand over all your data to the American government?"

So where are you on the continuum? If and when GDrive launches, will you be first on the bandwagon? Will you "wait and see," weighing the convenience with the dangers of living in the cloud? Or will you be more like me, less open to change and having the attitude, "You'll have to pry my hard drive from my cold, dead hands."

Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Related Reading

Managing Your Life in the Clouds: A Guide for Windows Users Part 2: The Google Experience

Google Set to Release SkyDrive Competitor