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Why is Google pushing the "cloud" so hard?

dontpanicbobby

dontpanicbobby

100% That Guy
VIP Member
Today I read that Google has removed exterior SD card support from Google Music. It was already hard enough to get that to work requiring a hack to the system but now even the hack no longer works with the new version of Google Music. You can still store Music in your device memory but the majority of Google Music offerings will now be stored in that ephemeral construct known as the Cloud.

What benefit does that give to users who already have limited data plans? Does storing your music collection in the cloud benefit Google?
 
Does storing your music collection in the cloud benefit Google?
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Yes--indirectly. They're making you dependent on them. Somewhere down the road, who knows what they'll implement? Maybe, "gee, we'd love to keep storing your carefully crafted music collection on our cloud servers, but you know, it's really expensive...so start coughing up $X/month or you'll lose all your data on such-and-such date..."

Personally, I don't subscribe to the current "the cloud! the cloud! we must store all our irreplaceable, precious data on the cloud!" frenzy. *I* want control over my data, so on my servers it'll stay. :)

As for Google Music, have you thought about trying Rhapsody instead? I've had a subscription for years. I tried Google Music but didn't like it nearly as much. Rhapsody is usually $9.99/month, but right now they're running a "$1 for 3 months" promo, which makes it attractive to check out. I know you can download to your device, but I honestly haven't paid attention to the details on that, because I don't normally download anything.
 
I kinda think more optimisticly and hope google will give android users cheap fast unlimited data some day :)
 
I'm sticking with ripping physical media as long as it exists. Be it Vinyl, Cassette, or CD I'd rather rip it and have it for my own use whenever/whereever than depend on any cloud based music solution where you don't have control over what is offered. Read the Android Central posts I linked to in this post. They're really eye openers.
 
I don't embrace the cloud much myself, but what major company isn't pushing the cloud?

Netflix? Amazon? Microsoft? facebook? Oracle? Adobe? IBM? VMware? Citrix? AT&T? Verizon? Yahoo? ALL want you in the cloud.
 
Thing with Google Music, it's not really your music like in the same way you own a record or CD, it's more like rented or leased. You stop paying the monthly fee, the music stops. It's a locked-down proprietary service, you can't play Google Music on iOS or Windows Phone AFAIK. They can do whatever they like, and if they don't want you to use SD cards and use the Google cloud instead, then that's what you got to do. You can't play Google Music outside of certain countries, like the United States or United Kingdom.

Other thing because it's not actually your music, if Google was discontinue this service for whatever reasons, that's it no more music. And that's actually what Google did with their cloud based music service here in China. They pulled the plug on it, no more songs. I had to find an alternative.
 
Why are Google pushing the cloud so hard?

Like, have you done the math? :vroam:

Google don't give away their cloud services.

A quick Google tells me there are around 900 million Android devices out there at the minute. At just $5 a month, that's a potential $4.5 BILLION a month market. Coincidentally, Google's average monthly income in the 1st quarter of 2013 (their best quarter ever?) was around $4.6 billion so basically, the cloud potentially DOUBLES Google's gross revenues :party:

And given that the cloud is actually O/S agnostic, the market's actually way, WAY bigger which of course explains everyone else's interest, too :dancing:

Please consider this my application for a research post at the University of the Bleeding Obvious :D
 
So people who like the Google Music Player will have to use a 3rd party music player if they want to play music they can control themselves. Ohkay-dohkay then, that explains why they don't want SD cards in any android phones. Greed, plain and simple greed. I almost fell for their "Don't Be Evil" spiel. I wonder if the Ubuntu phones will be SD card phobic?
 
Well, I did fall for their spiel :-). You can use different devices to listen to the music, as long as you are signed into your account. I think you can use up to five different devices. Well, anyway, that was one of the reasons I use it.
 
gimpy said:
Well, I did fall for their spiel :-). You can use different devices to listen to the music, as long as you are signed into your account. I think you can use up to five different devices. Well, anyway, that was one of the reasons I use it.
Click to expand...

Google music can have 10 devices
 
Seems to be a lot of hate for google. If i thought they were that evil i wouldnt use any of their services.
Theyre just a business and they provide us with some mega cool things that people take for granted. Imagine Google Earth had been around when you were a kid! It still blows my mind lol. Call me gullible or a fanboy but i honestly dont care. I AM a fanboy :)
 
gtbarry said:
I don't embrace the cloud much myself, but what major company isn't pushing the cloud?

Netflix? Amazon? Microsoft? facebook? Oracle? Adobe? IBM? VMware? Citrix? AT&T? Verizon? Yahoo? ALL want you in the cloud.
Click to expand...
This reminds me of telling my daughter, when she was little, "just because 'everybody else' is doing it, doesn't mean it's right."

Why do all those big companies want us in the cloud? Because THEY benefit financially. WE don't benefit, either financially or practically.

One power outage, one DDoS attack, one Internet outage and a business is screwed by not being able to access their data. I would never, in a zillion years!, rely on cloud storage ONLY. I think it's a fine and dandy option for backing up important data, but LIVE data? Never.
 
Because they are trying to be Apple? First they lock down their music app, next thing Android. we'll see when the eventual 5.0 comes out. of course, i've downgraded my Music app to where none of that felgercarb even happens anymore :) If you've seen the attempt at a walled garden lately from Google's services (Music, Books, Magazines, Movies, etc) they are already trying to create their iCloud alternative. they already have analogues of Apple's iBooks, iTunes, etc.

...and then they go and remove SD Support from certain apps and encourage others to follow in their cloud games.
 
On storing in the cloud: I love cloud storage, but there are two things I don't do with it:
1. I don't depend on it as the only place to store something.
2. I don't store anything sensitive in it (unless I have encrypted it myself).

In a pinch with a failing hard drive I did depend on it as the only place to store something, but then duplicated it on another cloud storage service and shortly after put it back on my own media.

dontpanicbobby said:
What benefit does that give to users who already have limited data plans? Does storing your music collection in the cloud benefit Google?
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It benefits carriers, not end-users.

MoodyBlues said:
As for Google Music, have you thought about trying Rhapsody instead? I've had a subscription for years. I tried Google Music but didn't like it nearly as much. Rhapsody is usually $9.99/month, but right now they're running a "$1 for 3 months" promo, which makes it attractive to check out. I know you can download to your device, but I honestly haven't paid attention to the details on that, because I don't normally download anything.
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What do you get when you download? Encrypted and DRM'd so they control it, or an mp3 as if you had purchased it from Amazon?

jpsned said:
Google is about as evil as it gets.
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I wouldn't say that, but if you use Google Everything then you're setting yourself up for when their journey towards the Dark Side will be complete. I find that some Google products have no decent competition; I use those. Others have good competition and for those I don't use Google.
 
nickdalzell said:
Because they are trying to be Apple? First they lock down their music app, next thing Android. we'll see when the eventual 5.0 comes out. of course, i've downgraded my Music app to where none of that felgercarb even happens anymore :) If you've seen the attempt at a walled garden lately from Google's services (Music, Books, Magazines, Movies, etc) they are already trying to create their iCloud alternative. they already have analogues of Apple's iBooks, iTunes, etc.

...and then they go and remove SD Support from certain apps and encourage others to follow in their cloud games.
Click to expand...

Nick i honestly dont know if its a language barrier or if your attitude is really so extreme as it reads but i honestly think you take this stuff too far mate. If you really are so annoyed with google, stop using it for the sake of your blood pressure :D
 
nickdalzell said:
Because they are trying to be Apple? First they lock down their music app, next thing Android. we'll see when the eventual 5.0 comes out. of course, i've downgraded my Music app to where none of that felgercarb even happens anymore :)
Click to expand...

They probably have to lock it down to keep the music industry and RIAA happy. Otherwise Google probably couldn't get the rights to legally distribute their copyrighted music.


nickdalzell said:
If you've seen the attempt at a walled garden lately from Google's services (Music, Books, Magazines, Movies, etc) they are already trying to create their iCloud alternative. they already have analogues of Apple's iBooks, iTunes, etc.
Click to expand...

It's all protected by DRM, which Hollywood, MPAA, RIAA, publishers and other rights-holders insist on. Basically because they assume you're a thief and want to steal their stuff. That's not Google's or Apple's fault. Anything with DRM is a walled garden, by the very fact it's restricted to certain devices, and countries as well. And you have to play by their rules.
 
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