

 The real GDrive is here - noahkagan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZjHg62-3JM

======
endtime
Do you really want to give yourselves the same name as a boy band from 10
years ago?

------
terpua
Hello all, I'm one of the founders of Insync. I shared the demo with Noah not
knowing he would post it here. I'm glad he did :)

I will be glad to answer any questions.

~~~
joeybaker
I'm a bit confused by the concept. Why would I want my documents to sync to
gDocs – when I already have gDocs that handles all the syncing? Sell me!

* I don't even worry about offline access anymore, since I'm basically never offline.

* I can share a document in real-time over gDocs.

* The only reason I have now to keep a document out of gDocs is formatting issues. Since these documents are synced to gDocs, I'll likely loose all the formatting.

~~~
terpua
It depends on your use case. Personally, I use Google Docs and Office.

But beyond that, it handles syncing and sharing outside of the GDocs folder.
The feature set is actually quite broad.

------
edanm
I looked at the video, I looked at your site, and I still don't understand
what the big difference between you and Dropbox is.

I realize the "Dropbox Killer" title wasn't accurate (or posted by you!), but
from your other comments, it does look like you're competing with Dropbox
(correct me if I'm wrong). Which is why I keep trying to understand what you
do better, and failing.

Some background about me: I don't use Google Docs at all (which might be a
problem, since your demo seems focused on that). I use and love Dropbox, I'm a
paying customer (50Gb). I don't have any major complaints about Dropbox, it's
been a dream so far, but I'm always open to alternatives.

~~~
terpua
Besides the GDocs integration, the big differences are our business edition
that integrates tightly with Google Apps and shared folder recipients are not
counted against their storage quota.

And a bunch of little things.

~~~
edanm
I don't know if you plan to actually market yourselves as a "better Dropbox".
But if you do, you should make the differences (and similarities) much
clearer. As someone who understands what Dropbox is, the sentence you wrote
above is excellent: I know exactly what you are (like Dropbox), but also where
you're better.

------
frederickcook
This looks awesome, something I'd use every day.

My co-founder and I currently use Google Docs for everything from financial
planning to project management (to-do lists, features, planning, spreadsheet
feedback forms, etc.), but we also use Dropbox for sharing anything except
docs and spreadsheets (stuff like sharing images and assets with our
designers, etc.) It'd be great to bring it all under one program.

~~~
terpua
Thanks! Hope you give it a shot.

------
edw519
Funny, but calling something a "DropBox Killer" can easily backfire. It just
reinforces Dropbox's position as the leader.

Someone who doesn't understand all the technology might not be able to
distinguish features and prefer to go with the established entrenched leader
(as confirmed by you!) over something 5% better that might not be here 6
months from now. Just a thought.

~~~
postit
rsync + fuse + s3 is a dropbox killer. If you don't care about web and fancy
iphone apps.

~~~
Confusion
And if you don't care about sharing documents with anyone other than a select
few.

~~~
wazoox
This is indeed a huge plus. "I can't disinfect your computer, I know
absolutely nothing about Windows" works wonders too. Geek snobbism my friend!

------
noahkagan
Whoa. A bit surprised to see this get voted up so quickly. I guess people
either want an alternative to DropBox or like the Google Docs Offline Sync.
Thoughts?

------
hop
Text documents are the last thing I would use dropbox for _because_ I have
google docs. And I'm a heavy using, paying dropbox user - I don't think you
can find many people to pay money for this.

~~~
terpua
We handle all file types and in-file deltas as well as deduping.

~~~
hop
But what do you do that dropbox doesn't, besides google apps syncing, that
makes Insync a Dropbox killer?

------
andrewjshults
How does it handle complexly formatted documents? That's one of my main
complaints of Google Docs (and main reason why I still use Office 2007 for all
of my "serious" word processing needs).

~~~
bradendouglass
Really? Maybe I missed the train but I wouldn't produce something that needs
serious formatting in Office. I would imagine a language like LaTeX or even
Markdown would be a better choice for seamless sharing between applications
and the web?

~~~
bigfudge
Don't understand the downvotes here. This is exactly what I do — we just
submitted at 20,000 word academic grant application with 15 collaborators at 6
sites. There is no way we could have done this in (sanely) in Word. We used
our own etherpad instance to edit Markdown, then pandoc to convert to latex.
Worked like a dream, and no old profs able to screw up the formatting.

~~~
bradendouglass
Yes, the down votes on my previous thread confuses me. I am definitely not the
larges MS Word lover in the bunch; however, there is no way that the
wonderfully intelligent community that is HN is depending on it to format text
that is being sent to an otherwise diverse group of people and platforms. One
word simply comes to mind, "bizarre."

~~~
ugh
It’s certainly great if you don’t have to use Word. Many people have to,
though, because they depend on other people who can only or will only use
Word.

Writing in that context ‘but you don’t really have to use Word’ without
actually answering the relevant question is wildly off topic and irrelevant
and only true for a, I would guess, rather small subset of people.

~~~
bradendouglass
Nothing is going to fall apart if you write everything in full .txt files.
Word, iWork, Google Docs, and generally everything will open the file and it
isn't formated with the likes of Word.

If you feel truly and honestly feel that you need to use a piece of software
to appease a group of people, you have some deep seated issues with
creativity. Of course I use the word you in reference to people who feel this
way and not to anyone in the thread directly.

~~~
ugh
I use Word from time to time (but not if I don’t have to) because I don’t want
to be a total douchebag. Life involves compromises. Working together with
other people involves compromises. I can’t always convince everyone that we
really should be using something different.

Oh, and while I am more than willing to agree with you that Word sucks I have
no qualms using and liking other software which ultimately doesn’t give me
text files. I absolutely adore InDesign and see no reason why I shouldn’t.

------
3pt14159
Looks cool. What happens when two users are editing a file at once? How does
it handle the merging?

~~~
terpua
If gdocs to gdocs, then google takes care of it. If desktop to gdocs, we
employ a simple conflict resolution where the conflicted copy gets saved
locally.

------
ari_
How is this fundamentally different then SugarSync, or SpiderOak? There are at
least 50 cloud storage apps all vying for the same market - why is this any
better?

------
mahmud
Here is the URL.

<https://www.insynchq.com/>

InsyncHQ (as in head quarters)

~~~
terpua
Thanks Mahmud for not just posting the link but helping us review our backend
gratis! Cool guy!

------
marcamillion
It's ok. Definitely don't see this as a 'startup' perse. Maybe if it gains
traction Google would do a talent acquisition to continue to build out Google
Docs.

Definitely not a "DropBox Killer" though.

The concept is not bad, but in the age of Etherpad and Google Wave, this kinda
feels a bit dated.

~~~
marcamillion
What's with the downvoting?

~~~
bradendouglass
People don't seem to care for the tagline: "a Dropbox Killer"

------
pclark
What makes it a dropbox killer rather than a dropbox clone?

------
liamk
I would certainly appreciate the sync functionality with Google Docs. On the
other hand, most of the time I just use Google Docs -- I don't switch back and
forth from desktop to Google Docs, like in the video.

~~~
mahmud
This is for when you work with people who use MS Office.

    
    
      "hey bro, install Insynchq"
    

That's it; you can stay in Google Docs, and they can stay in MS Office. Look
ma, no manual document re-uploading needed!

------
BTBurke
I could see how you might be able to compete with Dropbox on price. Google
storage is a lot cheaper than dropbox. Dropbox 50Gb is $120/yr (last I
checked). Google will sell you 400Gb for $100/yr.

------
taa
What'd really like to see is sharing specific folders with friends or
colleagues who also use this app, just like Google apps allows you to share
files with anyone.

~~~
terpua
We support that.

------
mikeyur
Cool idea but the reason I use Google Docs is because I don't have/want
Microsoft Office on my computer - and for the sharing/collaboration.

I could see this being useful for notes and the like, but I've been a loyal
Simplenote user for over a year now and I can't see myself ditching it for
this.

~~~
mahmud
I am a beta user and a die-hard Google Docs user. I found Insynchq immensily
useful when working with MS Office shops; you just tell them to install the
client and they will never have to email you a document again. Edits,
deletions, etc. everything is kept track of without you having to move from
version to version.

------
mikeryan
I like the app - seems pretty cool.

But what's the business here if all the storage is handled by Google?

~~~
terpua
The Google Docs folder is the only part where storage is handled by Google.
Folders outside of that can be shared and/or synced and their storage is
handled by Insync.

------
dmillar
Dropbox killer is a bit dramatic. This seems to focus on syncing with Google
Docs and desktop apps, Dropbox's aim is much more broad. I would venture to
guess Dropbox already has something like this in the works as a feature.

~~~
terpua
The Google Docs sync is one of our features. There's a list on our homepage
with screenshots – <http://insynchq.com>

------
51Cards
Just one simple comment: the app name and URL do not match which can be an
issue for adoption. I would consider an app name where you can match the two.
Tricky to do these days but worth it IMO.

~~~
ajwinn
Of course, DropBox was originally www.getdropbox.com, so they could make the
transition too if they can afford a matching domain.

------
postit
A business which depends on google can't be called startup, it's a hack! They
will let you live for a while then suddenly they will pull the plug.

~~~
abstractbill
Rapportive seems to be doing _very_ well, and is certainly a "business which
depends on google" right now.

~~~
jimbobimbo
For starters, it's not business yet - there's no money coming in, except
funding. Second, they will do very well as long as Google tolerate them
messing with GMail UI. So, it's a feature - yes, a clever hack - yes, but not
really a sustainable business.

~~~
mahmud
Insynchq has desktop clients for Windows, Mac and iPhone, and a client API. It
can be used for document synching for things other than Google Docs, you can
use it for asset management if you're a graphics designer, iterating through
versions and allowing a client to see changes immediately. You can use it for
synching and sharing any other documents as well.

How is that a mere hack?

~~~
DavidPP
I think it's due to your branding/feature page. The way it's presented, it's
easy to think it's only work with Google Docs.

------
shurik
Not a "DropBox Killer" since I don't think dropping 1 GB Photoshop files into
Google Apps is a good idea.

But awesome anyway!

------
eitally
How do you differentiate yourself from Memeo Connect, Syncplicity, or even
something like Gladinet?

------
DanLar75
Don't forget about SpiderOak when looking at Backup, Sync and share for
Windows, Mac and Linux (Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Slackware etc).
<https://spideroak.com> \- like Dropbox but with more feature and security
focus. Also 2+GB free with referrals etc.

------
magic5227
does this require a premium docs account? meaning a min # of paying users?

------
aneth
I think it's a great idea. Makes Google docs much easier to access from other
applications. It could really help in the corporate world where a company
wants to migrate to Google Docs and legacy services need to be supported or to
reduce training requirements.

It's no dropbox killer, but it serves different requirements. In fact, that
title is link bait-ish. Nevertheless, it looks to me like it could be a viable
product. I'd use it.

