All these tasks are accomplished without ever having to go further than the keyboard. In addition to delivery and copying services, i-drive will also focus on being a transfer point for copyrighted material such as MP3 files, and the company plans to garner a commission each time the data changes hands. For all their benefits, these massive systems nonetheless are not without their drawbacks. On the technical front, programmers are continually wrestling with scalability issues. Then there's the simple fact that access to the file-server is only as fast as your Internet connection.
Larger issues loom on the ethical and legal fronts.
Perhaps one of the most contentious questions is whether the services have the right to remove or block offensive or illegal content. Other than that, if it's in your private folder then i-drive is simply another way of storing things. Content issues naturally blend into privacy and security concerns. Just as the gestation period for HDTV has proven tortuous, the logistical and ethical questions of Web-based file management leave the service's future less than clearly mapped out. However, unlike HDTV which remains pretty much out of the general public's reach, the number of Web-based file management offerings currently available at least gives users ample opportunity to road test the goods.