Google Drive Isn't a Drive Anymore - It's a Trap

I've been a Google Drive user for over a decade. Today I installed Google Drive for Desktop expecting to access my files locally. What I found instead was a masterclass in vendor lock-in disguised as a cloud storage product. Your Files Aren't Files Every Google Doc on your Drive appears as a .gdoc file. Sounds reasonable. But open one up and you'll find it's a 175-byte placeholder - a tiny pointer file that redirects to Google's web editor. It contains no content. Zero. Just a URL. Try to read it programmatically? The operating system returns Invalid argument. Not "file not found." Not "permission denied." The OS literally refuses to read the file because Google Drive's filesystem driver blocks it. # This fails on every .gdoc file with open('My Document.gdoc', 'r') as f: content = f.read() # OSError: [Errno 22] Invalid argument Your files are on Google's servers. What's on your "drive" is a locked door with Google's logo on it. Mirror Mode Doesn't Help Google Drive for Desktop has two