The major software companies like Microsoft and Apple often refer to “the cloud”, or “cloud computing”. Basically, this refers to the Internet and the fact that much of our computing experience is moving online. Well, file storage is also moving online and DragToWeb is one startup looking to gain your business.

The Basics

When you head on over to DragToWeb, you will see that their site has a nice clean, very Web 2.0 design. The description of the service, as their site puts it, is:

DragToWeb helps you forget about your flash drive! Our interface lets you get instant access to your files without having to install custom software. Best of all, you can move many files at once without clumsy upload forms. Just drag your files to the web!

Here are the plans that are offered:

• FREE: 10 Megabytes of storage
• $2/ Month: 50 Megabytes storage
• $3/ Month: 100 Megabytes
• $5/ Month: 200 Megabytes
• $7/ Month: 500 Megabytes

This is certainly affordable, but does it work and is it worth it?

My Test of Their Service

I signed up for their free test drive. Very straightforward process. I was expecting some kind of activation notice in my email box which never came.

Once my account was set up, I clicked on “My Files” at the top of the site. I got a big fat ASP error at first and then all of a sudden, on refresh, it worked. Very strange.

I go to the “Add Files” screen and try to add a file. I choose a random PDF document off my computer and drag it to the “Add Files” interface inside of Firefox. The document shows up in the list. When I hit the “Upload” button, it goes up to the server. The upload speed is nice and snappy.

The “Manage Files and Folders” screen allows me to see the contents of my file space on DragToWeb. The java-based interface works much like the local computer. Double-clicking a file will open it. I can view in both icons or details mode. I can also navigate my virtual drive.

To get files off the service again, I go to the “Get Files” screen and drag the file out of my web browser and back to my local system. This also works well. The only hitch is that when I begin the dragging of the file, you have to wait for it to download before you release your mouse button. If you quickly drag and drop the file, it will go through the download process and then nothing will happen. If you wait long enough, the file will finish downloading and you can then place it anywhere on your computer.

My Evaluation

DragToWeb works as advertised. You can drag files to the web quite easily and then drag them back again. This could definitely take the place of your USB drive because it works pretty much the same way.

Aside from that, there are some things they need to improve on. This is obviously a very new service and is, as of this writing, lacking that professional polish I would expect of a service asking for my money. Here are some things I believe the company should pay attention to:

• I think the design of DragToWeb needs to be more customized and professional. This site looks to have a stock web template I may have seen around somewhere else before. The copyright notice, in fact, says “Software Company” and that just WREAKS of a template they bought from TemplateMonster or similar website.
• I think they need to remove the Google Adsense banners. If one is paying for a service, there should be no ads.
• The link to log into an account is way down at the bottom of the site. Way too easy to miss.
• There needs to be a little more continuity in the management of files. Instead of three separate screens for adding, managing, downloading files, I think it would be much more user friendly to have a single file management interface that did it all.
• I believe more public mention of the site’s security policies is necessary. Given the look of the site and the fact that I got an ASP error on my first try with them, I would not put any files on this system that I didn’t mind somebody else seeing. It says right in their terms of use that “DragToWeb.com does not guarantee your files will not be downloaded by someone other than yourself.”. That is just not acceptable.
• To compete in this arena, I believe DragToWeb needs to seriously consider increases in storage capacity. To replace a USB drive, it needs to at least be as big as a USB drive. Also, when you have competition like IDrive out there offering 2 GB of storage for free, it makes a free 10 MB account look severely lacking.

I will give the folks at DragToWeb the benefit of the doubt. They asked for a review from PCMech a little too prematurely, in my estimation. The service has that feel of just not being ready for prime time. With some additional polish and more investment on their end, I think DragToWeb could potentially work out. In the meantime, I hope my evaluation above can help them improve their service.

To give the system a try yourself, go to DragToWeb.com.

NOTE: The preceding review was a paid review.

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