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Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

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Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#31

Post by bachmeier »

spectramax wrote: post #22
redm wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is when Dropbox takes previously available features or capabilities and reduces them to drive subscriptions INSTEAD of adding new value.

It is disappointing to see how users these days have gotten used to the "Free" model and feel entitled for a free service on the internet. I recall when GMail launched with 1 GB free data. That was HUGE and everyone switched from Hotmail and Yahoo mail to GMail. Little did an average user know and still doesn't know that Google is an advertisement company. You are the product. Users have no right to complain about la…

"It is disappointing to see how users these days have gotten used to the "Free" model and feel entitled for a free service on the internet."

A price of $0 is just that - a price the company chose. The company could have chosen $10 or $100, but they didn't, because they thought $0 would help to maximize their profit.

There is nothing at all special about a price of $0. It's not a gift. It's an alternative to running Super Bowl commercials.

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#32

Post by Spooky23 »

spectramax wrote: post #26
uishax wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dropbox uses full differential syncing, the only mainstream client that does that universally. Onedrive only differential syncs with office files. Google drive, well, uses full file syncing for every file.

Could you please elaborate on what differential syncing means? Does Dropbox break down each file into small chunks before uploading? What are the advantages?

It syncs chunks of files instead of full files. If you append data to a file, only the changed blocks get transmitted.

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#33

Post by Symbiote »

the_common_man wrote: post #11
dk1138 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now called resilio sync. I use it for my home machines and it is pretty fantastic.

have you tried syncthing? is it the same?

I use Syncthing between my PC and phone.

The initial setup was confusing, though I appreciate it's offering configuration that's not possible with a service like Dropbox.

Almost all the time, files are synced to the other device when I want to see them. Occasionally, if that's just a few seconds after the file was created (e.g. take photo on phone and expect to see it on the computer) some connection glitch delays this. I can't rely on the interface to tell when this has happened.

(I have ~6GB of mostly music + photos synced.)

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#34

Post by bachmeier »

hisnameisjimmy wrote: post #23
the_common_man wrote: post #2

What is dropbox basic? I see no explanation anywhere. It's been ages since I visited dropbox but my god how things have changed. Every flow and part of their website is about converting people to paid.

The nerve! It's almost like they want to make money!

Because Dropbox wants to make money, we should all happily put up with steady annoyance?

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#35

Post by sdinsn »

spectramax wrote: post #15

I don't understand the Dropbox negativity on HN. I've used it since 2010 and it has provided me with incredible value. I used to have free service for documents but my library of data grew larger. I signed up for their $10/month program without a hitch and have been a paying user for years. You get a terabyte of space. I got rid of NAS backups and I have selective sync enabled on folders that I need synced. Large fil…

How often do you use Dropbox when you are not connected to your network? It would be much cheaper to buy a 1TB HDD and host it on your LAN.

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#36

Post by Uninen »

I've been using free Dropbox for a long time. After hitting my storage limits about year ago, I started learning about alternatives for the paid plans. Ended up with self hosted Nextcloud ( https://nextcloud.com/ ), which is open source. Been super happy with Nextcloud, would definitely recommend it for anyone who isn't fully happy with Dropbox.

The clients for macOS and iOS are not as polished as Dropbox and many apps use Dropbox integrations, but I've managed to find workarounds for everything except 1Password, which is why I'm currently looking for alternative (preferrably open source) solutions for it.

For me the self hosting is not a problem and there are several hosted options available as well. (For example: https://www.hetzner.com/storage/nextcloud )

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#37

Post by spectramax »

gutnor wrote: post #29
spectramax wrote: post #15

I don't understand the Dropbox negativity on HN. I've used it since 2010 and it has provided me with incredible value. I used to have free service for documents but my library of data grew larger. I signed up for their $10/month program without a hitch and have been a paying user for years. You get a terabyte of space. I got rid of NAS backups and I have selective sync enabled on folders that I need synced. Large fil…

There has been several things: • Dropbox has failed to improve their offering and even for a paying customer you do not get anything more for your money today than you were getting several years ago. That is not objectively a bad thing, I mean a spoon has hardly evolved in hundred of years and is still worth every penny. But this is HN and that's a bit of a sin around here. • In search of profitability Dropbox has us…

I think you could say the same thing about GMail. It looks and works the same way as it did 15 years ago. At times, less is more and feature creep ends up being like Microsoft Outlook - bloated, slow and frustrating to use.

I don't love my set of spoons like I love Dropbox, Digital Ocean, Eames Lounge Chair, Sublime Text/Merge and Teenage Engineering synthesizers. There are a handful of companies that give you immense pleasure in using their products daily.

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#38

Post by Spooky23 »

spectramax wrote: post #15

I don't understand the Dropbox negativity on HN. I've used it since 2010 and it has provided me with incredible value. I used to have free service for documents but my library of data grew larger. I signed up for their $10/month program without a hitch and have been a paying user for years. You get a terabyte of space. I got rid of NAS backups and I have selective sync enabled on folders that I need synced. Large fil…

I was a Dropbox subscriber for years. Paying double compared to other providers to get bombarded with upsell and not have basic features like full text search.

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#39

Post by apple4ever »

Barrin92 wrote: post #7

I'm a little sad that there's no low price offering comparable to Google drives 2$/100GB. I just don't need a TB of personal space but I like the dropbox client a lot better. Especially because of linux support and for some reason syncing seems to be significantly faster.

Agreed. I don’t need 1TB of space and I definitely don’t want to pay $10 a month. I’d upgrade for $2 or $3 for 100GB and unlimited devices.

Re: Dropbox adds a device limit to free accounts

#40

Post by panda888888 »

spectramax wrote: post #15

I don't understand the Dropbox negativity on HN. I've used it since 2010 and it has provided me with incredible value. I used to have free service for documents but my library of data grew larger. I signed up for their $10/month program without a hitch and have been a paying user for years. You get a terabyte of space. I got rid of NAS backups and I have selective sync enabled on folders that I need synced. Large fil…

My concerns about Dropbox have always been related to security, not features or price.
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