Glide File Sharing Service Debuts

Dotnaught writes "Glide Effortless has gone live. New York Times columnist David Pogue describes it as "full-blown online operating system" that's a mix of genius and interface awkwardness. (Glide has been covered previously on Slashdot.) Pogue concludes "Glide's core idea is unassailably fresh and useful. If TransMedia's plans for world domination fall into place, maybe it won't need an elevator pitch. Maybe 'You gotta try this' will be the only pitch it needs.""

Why would I use this?

[xquark]

Why do they want my credit card for the free subscription?
I don't plan on buying anything from their glide store, why assume I will?

and then tomorow

[jlebrech]

MPAA and RIAA vs Glide

Re:YOU NEED MY CREDIT CARD???

[Urkki]

They just need to verify that you do have a credit card. If you don't, you're not going to make them any money, so might as well not waste their server resources on you. Wether they make their money from you buying stuff with your credit card, or from selling your verified personal details to organized crime (including the government), well... Nah, they wouldn't, would they?

Re:Sweet - But no OSX 'til XMas

[flyingsquid]

The summary doesn't really give a good, well, summary of Pogue's review. He notes some major problems with their interface design that make it difficult to see what the files are, or manage large numbers of them. For instance, he says "... figuring out how to do some simple tasks, like backing out of a photo container to your full collection, are challenges for puzzle lovers only." The review also says that there are "...some telltale signs that the company may have bitten off more than it could chew"- there's no help or online manual, apparently.

The core concept is good. I'd like to be able to store documents online so I could access them from anywhere, and it would also be useful to allow others to see them. But a hundred megabytes isn't much in the way of storage (many of my graphics files are 10-20mb), and I can have twenty times that for free if I just email files to my Gmail account for storage. Sure, they offer more, but the problem is (as the New York Times is finding with it's TimesSelect premium online content) that on the internet, people are used to getting stuff for free.

As for buying them out, I suspect that it would be easiest for Google/Microsoft to simply duplicate the site's functionality while improving on the interface and offering more storage for free.

Supported media

[slashedmydot]

They don't even support ogg-vorbis, PNG or OASIS openDocuments.

http://www.glidedigital.com/supported_formats.aspx [glidedigital.com]

Amateurish.

[Cave Dweller]

From the sign-up process: "No, I wish to be keep a private profile in Glide."... Um, yeah, I wish to be keep from grammer.

And, finally, after clicking "Finish":


Registration Error
An error occurred while processing your registration.

The following is the DEBUG error (you'll want to remove debug for production releases):
EXCEPTION FROM System.Drawing: The object is currently in use elsewhere.
Timestamp (UTC): 12/01/2005 11:53:55 AppDomain: /LM/W3SVC/251460291/Root-18-127778646896134700 Calling Assembly: c:\windows\microsoft.net\framework\v1.1.4322\tempo rary asp.net files\root\7b14840e\a877634c\assembly\dl2\f25a4630 \6b4c05ce_b9f5c501\transmedia.dll TransMedia, Version=1.0.1.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=a841b3caad74b8d8 Operating System: Win32NT 5.2.3790.0 Process ID: 5356 Process Main Module: c:\windows\system32\inetsrv\w3wp.exe Thread Identity: UNKNOWN 1) System.InvalidOperationException:

EXCEPTION FROM System.Drawing: The object is currently in use elsewhere. Message: The object is currently in use elsewhere. TargetSite: Void Save(System.String, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageCodecInfo, System.Drawing.Imaging.EncoderParameters) HelpLink: (NULL) Source: System.Drawing Stack Trace: at System.Drawing.Image.Save(String filename, ImageCodecInfo encoder, EncoderParameters encoderParams) at System.Drawing.Image.Save(String filename, ImageFormat format) at Glide.Www.Account.register.RegisterFinishPage._Pro cessRegistration() in C:\transmedia\src\glide\1.0\wwwroot\account\regist er\finish.aspx.cs:line 135

Ah, yes, the excellent lameness filter. Let us marvel at the technological complexity that denies us from posting meaningful information and yet fails to prevent trolls from crapflooding the bejeesus of Slashdot.

if it smells like shit...

[abonstu]

the citrix www.gotomypc.com service offers a free trial - that also requires a credit card. i was pretty suspicious but really wanted to trial the service so gave it a shot...

as it turns out, when the trial period expires they charge you for the next month, ie. its an *opt-out* 'free' trial.

not only that, but you cant even email them to opt-out, you have to call them during *their* business hours... this really gave me the shits being in singapore and having to wait around till they decide to pick up the phone.

lets hope these characters arent going down that path... roping people into ongoing payments is pretty high on my do not touch list.