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Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

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Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#271

Post by js2 »

newswasboring wrote: post #258
js2 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single video app I have on my AppleTV: Netflix, Amazon, Criterion, even Apple’s own TV app, shrinks whatever you are watching down to a thumbnail just before the movie or show ends. I fucking hate it. Yes, I’m one of those weirdos who sits through to the end when the copyright rolls past and gets pissed off when the lights come on at a theater during the credits. It is incredibly disrespectful to the film. This…

> It is incredibly disrespectful to the film. I found this attitude a bit confusing. The film makers are not there, who are you showing respect to? Also, do you read each crew members name? If not, what's the point of sitting through it?

To me, it's like speaking loudly in a library, or people horse-playing in a museum. Perhaps it's more accurate to say it's disrespectful of the audience.

I want to be in control of whether or not to watch to the very end. It should be my choice.

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#272

Post by js2 »

princetman wrote: post #220
js2 wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single video app I have on my AppleTV: Netflix, Amazon, Criterion, even Apple’s own TV app, shrinks whatever you are watching down to a thumbnail just before the movie or show ends. I fucking hate it. Yes, I’m one of those weirdos who sits through to the end when the copyright rolls past and gets pissed off when the lights come on at a theater during the credits. It is incredibly disrespectful to the film. This…

I get the sentiment for live performance, but in your own home, I can not relate to this. Vast majority of people in credits are doing a job and getting paid for it, just like any other profession or trade. We don't pay "respect" to delivery drivers, or to designers and engineers who brings us our gadgets and services in same way. Why should I spend my time and attention on credit rolls? It's not like anyone noticing…

Perhaps I should have said it's disrespectful of me, the audience member. It should be my decision whether to watch to the end or not.

I really enjoy movie watching. I use the credits to contemplate what I just watched. Sometimes to see who played specific roles, or what music was in the film, or the locations. So yes, I do watch the credits.

I know most people don't. But that decision should be mine or yours.

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#273

Post by Zelphyr »

baggachipz wrote: post #248

Remember when this(1) was Dropbox? Remember how beloved it was because it did a thing and did it well, without complicating things or being actively user-hostile? Well, of course it's been fully MBA'd at this point, a true shame. (1) https://i.ibb.co/w6zcwYW/Screen-Shot-2021-01-15-at-10-49-22-...

Kind-of sounds like Steve Jobs was right in what he told Drew Houston: Dropbox is a feature, not a product.

Houston disagreed and they've spent all this time ever since trying to prove Jobs wrong. Meanwhile Apple built iCloud and Microsoft built OneDrive into their operating systems.

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#274

Post by ashtonkem »

Ensorceled wrote: post #18

I left dropbox when they changed the full page upsell to "dropbox business" so that I couldn't easily figure out how to skip it and get on with my work. I had a paid pro account at the time. I actually had a conversation with a product manager; I checked the yes you can contact me when I cancelled my account. They simply refused to admit that an upsell was a advertisement and that disrupting my workflow on my paid, p…

In my experience, product people often seem to get some pretty extreme tunnel vision about how the product should work vs. what customers really want. I’ve seen it enough to assume that something about that role incentivizes this behavior.

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#275

Post by andromeduck »

asidiali wrote: post #209
KingOfCoders wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with the ads for Amazon videos on Amazon Prime. They are ads and I don't want ads. But they don't see it that way (don't get me started on the forced watching of texts on Blue Rays).

The worst - YouTube TV They show you ads for YouTube TV, literally while are you watching TV with your paid YouTube TV subscription. How many ad dollars are just being flushed down the drain...

"already have it" seems like a fairly simple, common, and oh so fustrating problems especially for services that already know your email. Right now the worst offender for me is IBKR for egigh I get ~10 ads per day on YouTube despite both being linked the the same IP/email/device/browser as he service.

Likewise with Amazon showing you an ad for a product you literally bought minutes ago as if you'd want to buy another before the first arrives or LinkedIn recruiters trying recruit you to your current role.

Specialty equipment like for photography/cycling or 3d printing is the worst. Buy a Sony camera or Peak design tripod and you'll get ads for the same thing for a year. Like accessories and complementary products I'd understand but come on. Just how many thousand dollar cameras do you expect me to buy per month/year?!

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#276

Post by ashtonkem »

eitland wrote: post #229
Ensorceled wrote: post #18

I left dropbox when they changed the full page upsell to "dropbox business" so that I couldn't easily figure out how to skip it and get on with my work. I had a paid pro account at the time. I actually had a conversation with a product manager; I checked the yes you can contact me when I cancelled my account. They simply refused to admit that an upsell was a advertisement and that disrupting my workflow on my paid, p…

I still have a free Dropbox account but I'm not buying. I had 16GB permanent at some point (and up to 50GB temporarily for various promotions) but at some point they cut my account to 10 for no good reason at acted dumb when I asked them about it. Microsoft gave me 5GB extra for uploading photos and shortly afterwards reduced it, forcing me to delete them, luckily I had them backed up elsewhere. Google Photos have st…

I’ve just started moving big files into S3/Glacier/B2 (Backblaze API compatible S3 competitor). If you know how to use these tools, they’re far more long term reliable than any Dropbox like service in terms of offering and pricing.

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#277

Post by jasonv »

stonesweep wrote: post #235
pgt wrote: post #10

Hmm. My Dropbox Pro subscription renewal is coming up. Is there an alternative to Dropbox that isn't iCloud or Google Drive? I would like to pay for Tarsnap but I don't understand 250 picodollars / byte-month.

I'll add a +1 to pCloud (pcloud.com) - SyncThing doesn't fit my use case (I have no "one device to hold everything", it's all disparate laptops/phones) and I wanted a centralized location to store my encrypted backups and files and stuff. My requirements were integration with rclone and FolderSync (android app) to work natively with their APIs and it works like written on the tin. I was able to use rclone on a cloud…

The pcloud pricing model is interesting/concerning. A one-time, life-time payment?

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#278

Post by Zelphyr »

youbookface wrote: post #207
jo-m wrote: post #184

A year ago, I replaced Dropbox with Syncthing [1] for all my private use. It syncs directly between your devices without need for a central server (except for device discovery). I use it without an always-on instance (NAS, cloud server), so it only syncs when my Laptop and Phone are on at the same time. This is enough for me. It just works (TM). [1] https://syncthing.net/

> The Syncthing Foundation stands against racism! Read about what we're doing. Ugh, is anyone tired of every website's insistent virtue signaling?

Yes, but I feel like in the end it'll do more good than harm.

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#279

Post by ashtonkem »

protomyth wrote: post #188
retox wrote: post #180

I was told a story about the Dropbox sales team a while back that swore me off using them. They contacted the company I worked at, that didn't have a business contract with Dropbox, offering a great deal and a meeting was quickly arranged. The meeting (which I only heard about secondhand from a good friend) quickly turned into a strong-arm operation. Dropbox had 'detected' that employees at our company were using Dro…

Well, the tactic worked for Oracle, and I would assume some of those lawyers landed at other SV companies. Although, to be fair to Oracle, they didn't do dark pattern stuff when I used them.

The problem for Dropbox is that social media makes these strong arm tactics harder, as the victims have an opportunity to put the company on blast publicly and trash their reputation. 20 years ago companies could do this repeatedly for a longer period of time before they’d gain a reputation for being scummy.

Re: Tell HN: Dropbox now requires access to contacts for Google login

#280

Post by chaz6 »

confiq wrote: post #76

why people would use oauth for services like this? I always use anonymous email

I miss when OpenID was a thing and I could run my own iDP, but that didn't catch on because everyone wanted to be the iDP and not an RP. These days it's a cabal of a few big companies.
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