Download Squad

I regret having to add this one to the "great ideas that probably won't last long" list: G2G is a service that lets you use your Gmail account to share files, kind of like YouSendIt, MegaUpload, and the like. The trick is that it's all based on Gmail's storage and Gmail's bandwidth, and though it's a bit quirky (the "beta" tag isn't just for giggles), it's extremely well put together. You register your Gmail account with G2G (they, and I, recommend that you create a new Gmail account for the purpose since you give them complete access to all its contents) and then any files stored as attachments will be available to other G2G users to either download directly or to send to their Gmail account. If you don't want all of your files available to others, you can set it up to only index files with a certain Gmail label, and you can use other labels to organize your shared files into folders. On top of all that, G2G's developers have put a clean interface and some slick AJAX goodness, and with Google's bandwidth downloads are lightning-fast. Perhaps my one gripe is that in order to download files, users must firest register with the service.

So, after all that praise, why do I put G2G in the "probably won't last long" category? Well, G2G is a clear violation of Gmail's Terms of Service, and by the time it gains the sort of critical mass it needs to succeed, Google will have long since pulled the plug, either by technical means or by way of Cease & Desist. Which isn't to say I won't be keeping my fingers crossed for G2G's survival, but I have a feeling it's going to take something more along the lines of a miracle.