The GDrive service will provide anyone (who trusts Google with their data) a universally accessible network share that spans across computers, operating systems and even devices.  Users will no longer require third party applications to emulate this behaviour by abusing Gmail storage.

In a Windows environment, most users know how to use the typical C: in “My Computer”.  Network drives work exactly the same but are given a different letter and the files within are not stored on the computer.  If my suspicions are correct and GDrive is simply a network share, most applications could take advantage of this service without modification.

The question of course is how Google will monetize a service like this.  I cannot see how file storage using a network share could be used to serve up advertisements — so maybe they won’t.  In some screenshots of Gmail for domains, it appears there are different “account plans” that I assume provide additional email addresses.  Could a similar system work for online storage?  For example, 1GB free and pay $5 for each additional.

Another way to generate income from this service would be to provide users a DVD backup of their data for a small monthly fee.  Depending on how often a GDrive is used by someone, it could make sense to receive a backup on a regular schedule — while they are at it, why not include some “cool” extras on those DVD’s?

Online storage with GDrive could be an important part of Google’s future plans — universal access to your data will soon become reality. Watch out and wait.