I'm not to sure...
...I'd trust any of my data there, even given the nice 50GB free. Given the track record and all. But then, if you're storing legit content, there's really no reason not to use a service like DropBox or Skydrive or Box, IMO.
Dotcom's Mega to launch with mini call centre
The new mega.co.nz will launch with 50 gigabytes of cloud storage for all comers and a global customer support line, but just 15 to 20 staff to handle calls. Kim Dotcom has announced the 50GB allowance on Twitter, and Australian-based domain name registrar Instra has put up its hand as the new service's call centre. Instra's …
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Friday 18th January 2013 08:01 GMT Rampant Spaniel
Re: I'm not to sure...
Isn't 50gb a lot more than is currently offered for free? At least since skydrive dropped to 7GB (from 25Gb?). Most free accounts seem to be in the 2-7GB range.
I agree the service is probably going to attract a significant amount of illegal content and as such it is sensible to question how viable it will be as a long term service. I would be worried about it being taken offline I certainly wouldn't pay for it when google \ dropbox etc offer reasonably priced services which won't attract as much legal flak. I'm happy to be proven wrong however :)
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Friday 18th January 2013 09:03 GMT Paul Crawford
Re: I'm not to sure...
Personally I think you can't trust ANYONE with your own data, and at least Mega are going to encrypt by default (unlike dropbox, etc) so their staff (and anyone working with them, sizing the hardware, disposing of old HDD, etc) can't easily access YOUR data.
So fine for sharing/syncing but like all of the other "cloud" services, plan for a sunny day and have your own backup copy!
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Friday 18th January 2013 11:44 GMT Irongut
Re: I'm not to sure...
There are plenty of reasons not to use DropBox. Lack of encryption of your data, staff having access to your data, if you're in Europe you need to consider the Data Protection Act because their servers are in the USA so you're transferring data outside the EU... I'm not saying I would use Mega or that it solves all these problems but DropBox is not the amazing and obvious choice many think it is.
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Friday 18th January 2013 11:34 GMT tempemeaty
Kim's offerings seem very usefull as data access
I think of services like this not as a back up but as a way to access data I didn't have on my laptop when I'm out and about.
Also, I never use cloud storage as back up, only as an additional source to retrieve my data from. Leaving my data to the cloud is a risk I don't take but as an extra source of access to my data it seems okay. I sure can use a 50Gb option like Kim is offering for that.
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Saturday 19th January 2013 09:11 GMT GiveHalfA
He's kidding himself
Times have changed.. Now all he seems to be offering is online storage with some encryption software. Big deal. Does he really think he can cut a better deal than Amazon, Google or Microsoft? In the short term offering 50GB might get him some market share but the model seems fundamentally flawed, the big three will just offer a better deal - like how they compete among themselves - until he is crushed. Don't get me wrong I think it's great for the consumer, now they will probably all raise the free offerings to 50GB.
Maybe a better model for him would be to just focus on the software side.
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Sunday 20th January 2013 11:40 GMT Kiwi
Trialing as we speak.
First impressions.. Initial page loads fairly slowly. These days if the initial site isn't loaded in a couple of seconds, people are going elsewhere. Even if the underlying engine takes a few minutes to load, so long as the first page is up in seconds people are happy. (DISCLAIMER/FULL DISCLOSURE ETC ETC: I am posting from a "Xtra" connected house - where the "eXtra" refers to the time you wait for things to happen, people in 3rd world countries with 1200/75 modems will probably see it download much faster)
Registration - While it is in some senses good that they make you (skim) read through all of the t&c's and look at the privacy page before you can tick the "I agree" and continue to register, it is a bit annoying to have that checkbox there but unusable until the page has been read. Also, some (many?) of those who aren't used to enforced readings of Ts&Cs will struggle to get past this.
Pricing - haven't looked around much so don't know what other "cloud" services offer. That said, I'm a Kiwi visiting a Kiwi site through a Kiwi ISP - please give me prices in $NZ, not $Yank or Euro or whatever. However, the bandwidth and data prices seem quite reasonable to me, and if I wanted to back up everything I have without buying a new HDD (still relatively expensive over here, especially when you consider the modern HDD lifespan) I'd almost consider something like this (except, well, data rates in NZ are horrendous and finding an affordable ISP that gives us more than a couple of gigs a month (I'm visiting a friend hence the Xtra connection, OK? I wouldn't use them at home if my partner's life depended on it!)
Trying to upload some pictures to it for distribution amongst the family. I use NoScript and Flashblock. This site, even with them set to allow it, doesn't seem to function too well. I am using Firefox (17.01) and the site does nag you to use Chrome (not in this lifetime!), but even given than, I'm sure the uploads should be flowing by now.
My only other recent "cloud" experience (other than the things back before it was called "cloud") is with Box, and that works well. Compared to that, well, Mr .com, your site's not doing so well I'm afraid. I'd love to see a Kiwi site do well but as it stands at this moment, needs work. Got some #8 and bailing twine out the back if you need it.
Will try again in a few weeks. Good luck with it, but not impressed thus far.
(Oh, and they do make clear in their T&Cs that you are responsible for keeping copies of your data in case the service fails).
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Monday 21st January 2013 07:07 GMT silent_count
Re: Trialing as we speak.
"Oh, and they do make clear in their T&Cs that you are responsible for keeping copies of your data in case the service fails."
You know, that comes across as (because it actually is) imminently sensible advice. It's rather surprising in these days of content-free, marketing babble.
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Monday 21st January 2013 16:47 GMT Paul Webb
Re: Trialing as we speak.
Managed to sign up without reading the T&Cs.
Clicking on the acceptance email opened a second tab (in Firefox 18.0.1) which promptly threw an error and displayed the hour glass (Windows XP). Closing that tab brought me back to the original tab so I started upload a text file (26.6MB). Estimated upload time soon climbed to 1:38:55 and has now been stuck at "Infinity:NaN:NaN" for the last six minutes or so. Looks like I'll be reading El Reg a little while longer...
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
