It seems like every week there is a new cloud storage option that is being announced. Last week it was Google Drive as Google finally jumped into the fray. This week Amazon decided it didn’t want to be left too far behind and unveiled it’s new desktop clients for their cloud storage system, called simply Amazon Cloud Drive. While this is a necessary addition for any cloud storage option, is it too little, too late for Amazon?
Up until this point if you wanted to add a file to Amazon Cloud Drive you had to use a special uploader to get it to your drive. Anyone who has used Dropbox knows how easy they made it to upload files and folders just by simply putting them into a specified directory on your computer. The program handled the rest. Why would someone not use the easier cloud storage option? Obviously Google figured this out before they released their Drive option, and include in their option is desktop programs to sync your files.
So where does Amazon Cloud Drive fit in with the rest of the options price wise now that they have an easy way to upload files? Well it kind of fits in between Dropbox and Google Drive. Amazon has a simple pricing system, just like Google does. For extra space Google wants you to pay ten cents per GB per month. So it’s $5 for 50GB on a monthly billing cycle or $60 a year. Amazon is a little cheaper and their pricing system is just as simple. Amazon is charging $1 per GB per year. That would make that 50GB account cost you $50 every year. Both of these choices blow Dropbox out of the water as for 50GB Dropbox wants $100 a year.
So how many cloud storage options are too many? Apparently the success of Dropbox has brought everyone to the cloud storage playground. Any economics student will tell you that most of the time a lot of players in a certain market is good for the consumers. I would expect to see Dropbox lower their prices now that there are more cloud options available. What is your favorite cloud storage system?
[Amazon Cloud Drive]
