Google Growing into Online Storage?

It's probably sad to admit, but most of us have been there...tapping away on our PC, and suddenly there's a blue screen. Or a frozen picture in front of you. Frantically, you bang on the keyboard, jiggle the mouse, and the next thing you know, you're restarting and saying, "Please, please, please let my work still be there."There is always that nagging thought in the back of your head when this happens, too: What if the computer didn't stay away from the light and it's passed away for good? It's scary to think about, but the thought races through your mind while you hold your breath, waiting to see if your desktop boots up to see the light of day once again.There are companies out there which have been offering online back-up services for your files, safely stored away where they are untouched if your computer dies. Web Worker Daily posted a very comprehensive list some time ago on this very subject, which you can read here. Things have changed since then, however, and now the rumor mill is churning that Google is eyeing this as its next opportunity to offer another service to its clients. Thanks to its success with online storage programs like Google Docs, combined with their friendly and easy-to-use reputation in online applications, it would certainly make them a formidable competitor.The biggest hurdles in that kind of endeavor are privacy issues, of course. The idea would be for people to ultimately have the option to rely solely on their online repository of files, without having to rely on their personal computer to store it. It's a little strange to think of the things we rely on daily floating on a separate server. I know that I, for one, would want to make sure I was the only person who accesses it.