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The new Dropbox

blog.dropbox.com

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Re: The new Dropbox

#241

Post by asdff »

jacobcohen11 wrote: post #97
thinkharderdev wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were losing ~$500m a year (and growing) doing one thing and doing it well.

Maybe it's because they were expanding too much and hiring too many people

Who provides dropboxes actual storage? That provider could just keep squeezing dropbox until the provider creates a copy of dropbox or has them bent over just to the point of them switching to another provider. Maybe dropbox should have been building their own data centers in the mean time, cutting their overhead. That idea of restraining growth in favor of long term stability probably wouldn't sit so well with the shareholders who want their pie tomorrow.

Re: The new Dropbox

#242

Post by databus »

liyanage wrote: post #203

I've been a Dropbox user for many years but I'm looking for a replacement. What drives me nuts and hasn't gotten better over the years is their truly awful Python-based macOS client software. It is constantly burning a ton of CPU/battery. It's always at or near the top of Activity Monitor's list in the Energy tab. It seems like their app constantly reacts to any file system activity, even if that activity is outside…

I feel like this is going to be some huge electron-type update. Anyone know?

Re: The new Dropbox

#243

Post by kyrra »

pgm8705 wrote: post #229
liyanage wrote: post #203

I've been a Dropbox user for many years but I'm looking for a replacement. What drives me nuts and hasn't gotten better over the years is their truly awful Python-based macOS client software. It is constantly burning a ton of CPU/battery. It's always at or near the top of Activity Monitor's list in the Energy tab. It seems like their app constantly reacts to any file system activity, even if that activity is outside…

My previous experience with Google Drive was that it would chew up CPU and memory a lot more than I liked. I've been pretty happy with iCloud Drive since I switched to it. Works seamlessly and effortlessly on my Mac and iPhone, affordable pricing fo storage which can be shared with family, and also solves my photo storage needs with Apple Photos. The only drawback is the lack of shared folders, but they just announce…

(I work for Google, not on drive. Opinions are my own).

Have you tried the newer drive client? Backup & Sync[0] replaced the old client and I believe is a bit better than the older client. If you are on GSuite, there is the Drive File Stream[1] that is a lazy-load of resources from a drive folder (which is why it's targeted for businesses only).

[0] https://www.google.com/drive/download/backup-and-sync/

[1] https://support.google.com/a/answer/7491144?utm_medium=et&ut...

Re: The new Dropbox

#244

Post by mosselman »

mirthflat83 wrote: post #231
pentae wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also just put the price up of the plus plan $20 a year. I already pay for iCloud so I don't know why I'm still a customer really. Laziness I suppose. I trust Apple with my data a lot more also.

iCloud doesnt offer file history though. Once you accidentally delete a file, it’s gone.

Good point. Luckily I make encrypted backups to an external drive with timemachine, but you bring up an important detail when considering options.

I use the 'Drive' app of my Synology NAS and I am very happy with it.

Re: The new Dropbox

#245

Post by kevas »

liyanage wrote: post #203

I've been a Dropbox user for many years but I'm looking for a replacement. What drives me nuts and hasn't gotten better over the years is their truly awful Python-based macOS client software. It is constantly burning a ton of CPU/battery. It's always at or near the top of Activity Monitor's list in the Energy tab. It seems like their app constantly reacts to any file system activity, even if that activity is outside…

Why not just get your own box and put NextCloud on it?

Re: The new Dropbox

#246

Post by skinnymuch »

azinman2 wrote: post #215
skinnymuch wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you legally required to do that? What law is that?

Fiduciary duty to shareholders

I don’t think that’s actually true. Your original statement. The duty is just to behave how a reasonable or prudent person would behave. I doubt there would be a lawsuit case against Craigslist that would win if Craigslist was a public company.

Re: The new Dropbox

#247

Post by asdff »

wwweston wrote: post #219
sethhochberg wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The limit on number of syncing devices has me exploring other options - I'm an oldschool Dropbox user, I got most of my storage space with referrals years ago, and I consume about 6GB on the free plan. I don't need 2TB. I don't really even want 2TB, and I'm certainly not going to pay over $100 a year for 2TB. I'd pay some smaller amount of money for the ability to sync additional devices without storage that I'll nev…

I don't need 2TB either, but I do need a cross-platform solution where the incentives of the company are aligned more or less with mine in providing the service. iCloud will always primarily be about Apple devices, which I like well enough and have several of, but maybe won't always. Microsoft's offering will probably be the same from the PC side of things. Google will offer me the world for free but data mine the he…

No idea about linux users, but onedrive on mac is virtually indistinguishable to dropbox, but with more function with ms product integrations.

These days it's been apple being lazy with cross platform, not microsoft.

Re: The new Dropbox

#248

Post by geodel »

atonse wrote: post #209
liyanage wrote: post #203

I've been a Dropbox user for many years but I'm looking for a replacement. What drives me nuts and hasn't gotten better over the years is their truly awful Python-based macOS client software. It is constantly burning a ton of CPU/battery. It's always at or near the top of Activity Monitor's list in the Energy tab. It seems like their app constantly reacts to any file system activity, even if that activity is outside…

Is this really true? wow. I'm shocked that a company of Dropbox's size hasn't built native clients for each platform (or rearchitected the core to be based on something like Go or Rust that is fast and cross platform, and just building the UI parts in the native frameworks)

From their POV whatever is in their data centers will be microscopically optimized and written in carefully handcrafted Rust and then later covered in blog posts.

For clients their unspoken answer is 'upgrade hardware and stop whining' or 'we have strategic direction to deliver uniform client experience across platforms' which would just mean write some JS/Electron crap.

Re: The new Dropbox

#249

Post by nogridbag »

atonse wrote: post #209
liyanage wrote: post #203

I've been a Dropbox user for many years but I'm looking for a replacement. What drives me nuts and hasn't gotten better over the years is their truly awful Python-based macOS client software. It is constantly burning a ton of CPU/battery. It's always at or near the top of Activity Monitor's list in the Energy tab. It seems like their app constantly reacts to any file system activity, even if that activity is outside…

Is this really true? wow. I'm shocked that a company of Dropbox's size hasn't built native clients for each platform (or rearchitected the core to be based on something like Go or Rust that is fast and cross platform, and just building the UI parts in the native frameworks)

I'm guessing you never used Google Drive's Backup and Sync on Windows. I used it for the first time a month or two ago. Simply clicking the system tray icon brings up a blank dialog that takes seconds to render. Both Drive and the sync tool have been around for quite some time so I expected it to be a polished experience.

I also expected the integration with Google Photos to be excellent since Photos is a major Google service, but in a terrible case of bad timing I just happened to attempt to use it when Google had a Drive -> Photos service outage.

Re: The new Dropbox

#250

Post by ben509 »

dcx wrote: post #81
randlet wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pCloud works well for me (support for all major platforms). Google drive has no Linux support which is a deal killer for me.

pCloud looks pretty good - I happen to be shopping around for a Dropbox replacement too. But just a heads-up, when I checked around online I found these [1] [2] [3] comments. It sounds like they have a tool that runs internally to detect piracy and it sometimes picks up false positives, which might cause your account to be deleted? [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/am2xbn/pcloud_allo... [2] https://www.re…

From their terms[1]: "pCloud will have the right to investigate and prosecute breaches of any of the above to the fullest extent of the law. pCloud may involve and cooperate with law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who breach these Terms. You acknowledge that pCloud has no obligation to monitor your access to or use of the Site or Services or to review or edit any User Content, but has the right to do so for the purpose of operating the Site or Services, to ensure your compliance with these Terms, or to comply with the applicable law or the order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or other governmental body."

They also have the usual "we'll take down anything that Disney tells us to" DMCA arrangement. Are other clerd providers better?

[1]: https://www.pcloud.com/terms_and_conditions.html

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