DocSyncer opens beta, merges local docs with the cloud
James has a great post sharing his concerns with working in the cloud, something I'm doing nearly all the time these days. I think this is great for our readers: one of us here works locally on docs and artifacts while the other is just as mobile and "sky-writes" everything on web services and online storage.
Not that I'm lobbying for my position, because it's truly an individual choice, but I did get a note from the DocSyncer folks last night indicating they've opened their beta up to the public via invitations. I mentioned DocSyncer last week, but if you missed it, the free beta service is a synchronization tool for Microsoft Office docs and Google Docs. DocSyncer offers a nice middle ground between local files and data in the cloud so you have your choice of work environment. Maybe that's even better: more choices for mobile users can lead to more productivity! If you use both Google Docs and Microsoft Office, click here for an invite to DocSyncer.
This sounds great. Upon registering I however discovered that it was for the time being only available for Windows 2000 / XP / Vista, but that a Mac OS X version would be coming soon!
Posted by: Pascal Venier | December 19, 2007 at 09:51 AM
I tried it out, and it uploaded a bunch of personal and proprietary information to my google documents before I could stop it. Any program that violates my privacy to this degree without even asking me first isn't going to get a second chance later.
Posted by: Mark | December 19, 2007 at 02:37 PM
Mark, without sharing the exact details of the personal and proprietary info, can you shed any more light on exactly what happened? Did you have information in your My Documents folder that got uploaded that you didn't want uploaded? Just curious what the exact concern is.
Posted by: Kevin C. Tofel | December 19, 2007 at 02:49 PM
Kev,
I can agree with Mark's comment. It basically just begins uploading/syncing files without asking which directories and files you'd like to sync. Granted, it's a beta, and I understand there are some constraints, but there's no mechanism to say "don't back up these files." Even in a beta, or maybe better: ESPECIALLY in a beta, there should be some control over what goes where. I trust Google with a lot my information, but I would be remiss as a tech-geek if I didn't point out obvious design flaws. :)
Still, this is a clever idea and useful for folks like you and me that enjoy the Cloud!
Posted by: Paul J Manoogian | December 21, 2007 at 01:03 PM