Give It Up to Google

Foolish colleague Seth Jayson has told me more than once that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is the new Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). You know what? He's right. The rumor mills attached to both firms are the envy of Hollywood wannabes. That's why, when Reuters reported yesterday that the search king is planning to provide users with infinite storage for files, email, bookmarks, and the like, a whole new round of mania set in.

The service is apparently to be called GDrive, and it was accidentally unveiled in a presentation posted to Google's investor relations site. Management's notes detailed a strategy wherein everything digital will live online, under Google's big tent.

That sounds impressive to me, and I wonder whether Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), and others ought to be frightened by the prospect. But then I wake up and realize that it'll never happen. A Fool on our Google discussion board explains:

Oh goody, now Google (and eventually the Feds) can examine everybody's hard drive w/o a search warrant. And it's all in one convenient location.

In other words: If this is for real, and it catches fire, Google will know more about you than your Mom does. Doesn't sound so fun now, does it?

The history of technology is filled with stories of disruptive innovations that never were: Object-oriented databases, code-free visual programming, speech recognition systems that actually work, and so on. Each of these breakthroughs and many more like them failed not simply because of the technology, but because customers either weren't ready for them or refused to abandon other ways of working. Google is on the threshold of asking the world to abandon PCs and personal hard drives.

And you know what that means. Who you pay, what you browse, where you shop, and who you talk to -- Google will know it all, forever. Do you really want that? I didn't think so.

Related Foolishness is just a click away:

• The Web everywhere! That's what Google says.
• Don't get comfy, Google investor. There are more surprises ahead.
• Microsoft wants to be Google.
• But in Q4? Maybe not.

Microsoft is a Motley Fool Inside Value selection. Dell is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. Get a free 30-day all-access pass to either service by clicking on the links.

Fool contributor Tim Beyers will stick with his G4 PowerBook, thanks. Unless, that is, you've got a brand-spankin' new MacBook Pro for him. You can find out what's in his portfolio by checking Tim's Fool profile . The Motley Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy .