Google wants to store your data

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) plans to offer a service that will allow consumers to store data on the company's hard drives instead of individual PCs. According to The Wall Street Journal that would include content "such as word-processing documents, digital music, video clips and images."

Google has already begun the move to what is called "web-based" computing. The system allows applications to run on remote servers instead of on PCs. The programs are viewed as competition to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows, which generally works using the PC's own memory and hard drive. Google has already introduced word processing and spreadsheet products based on running software on machines in its huge server farms.

The new program will raise all of the normal privacy concerns, but Google's problem with getting consumers to use the new service may go deeper than that.

Do people really need to store data remotely? Hard drives for PCs have tremendous storage capacity now. How many PC owners actually have the need to store files and information at a remote location?

Not many.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.