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Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

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Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#111

Post by ry0ohki »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #103
ry0ohki wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd worry more about Bitcasa, because they are taking the same "ease of use" idea, but making it even easier and cheaper. Google is not the best with marketing, I haven't heard of any friends using Google Deals instead of Groupon yet either.

I sign up for the beta and the first thing they do is try entice me to spam social network sites about their product (that I haven't tried) in exchange for a better place in line. Pass.

It seems like half the startups are taking this Launchrock-type approach these days, I'm not sure I'm a fan either but presumably it works.

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#112

Post by microcentury »

patio11 wrote: post #96
webignition wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would actually be a very interesting list. Hard to complete exhaustively, but a few relevant examples would be great!

Google Video (rescued by throwing a few billion at the competitor who was running away with the space), Lively (its like IMVU except without the users), Dodgeball, Wave, Google Page Creator (its like Weebly except without the users), Orkut (debatable whether one can put it in the failure column for not being FB but it certainly isn't FB), etc, etc.

But Google 'gives everything away' (with indirect monetisation), both the products that succeed and the products that fail. So in that sense this is just a list of failed products which are the byproduct of innovation at such a scale, rather than an indication of what has worked and what has not for Google in the past. Surely in this case, going up against a competitor that needs to charge, Google would be at a massive advantage (legality aside) by not having to charge?

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#113

Post by MatthewPhillips »

brlewis wrote: post #66
Jun8 wrote: post #64

I think services/sites can be divided into two when considering how/if people switch between them: (i) aggregate sites whose value is a (generally nonlinear) function of all users who use the site and (ii) personal sites whose impact is just for the person who uses it. The fact that I'm using Dropbox, too, doesn't provide any value to you (except of course economies of scale) YouTube, Flickr, YouTube, etc. are Type I…

You may be underestimating the prevalence of Dropbox shared folders, which make Dropbox into more type I.

Is Dropbox's business model not dependent on customer acquisition?

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#114

Post by pestaa »

crocowhile wrote: post #43

I keep having problems with Dropbox lately, with files that aren't synced and lots of conflicted copies. Not sure why but made me realize that Dropbox has been offering pretty much the same service for years now. Granted, the service was great from the beginning but: are they improving enough to remain competitive?

Completely agreed. Right now the most requested feature is "watch any folder". It received the most upvotes by a great margin (30%). And it was suggested 2 years ago.

Yet there is no indication of development at all on that front (or any other for that matter.)

I really like Dropbox, but seriously will look into GDrive too.

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#115

Post by abcd_f »

ry0ohki wrote: post #110
ry0ohki wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd worry more about Bitcasa, because they are taking the same "ease of use" idea, but making it even easier and cheaper. Google is not the best with marketing, I haven't heard of any friends using Google Deals instead of Groupon yet either.

Really, I'm being downvoted into troll territory? Does it help if I say I'm a paying Dropbox user? The community is definitely changing here over the years...

I would guess that Bitcasa is just not notable enough to be brought into Google/Dropbox thread. Not that it justifies downvoting you below 0.

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#116

Post by abcd_f »

Alright, now. Pay attention to the existence of paid option.

The fact that GDrive has a paid option indicates that they are aiming directly at Dropbox. If they were offering a completely free option, it would implicitly make GDrive fall into another category thus increasing its distance from Dropbox. I would also guess that Google can easily make GDrive completely free, these $5 / 20Gb is not likely to be breaking or making it for them. It is a just conversion facilitator. Furthermore consider their selected price point - it means that they want to remove all doubts when one compares two paid services and to strongly entice Dropbox users to switch.

Google Docs must be not working as great as they would like it to. People are still not using it for interesting documents of some value, and that's a bummer. Let's try and get to these documents another way...

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#117

Post by rohitkumar »

jpdoctor wrote: post #88
patio11 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd be surprised how difficult "giving it away" can be, even for Google. Google succeeded big on giving away email, search, and androids. Do I need to list up all the acquisitions and products that even with a mortal lock on navigation on the Internet Google couldn't convince people was worth at least $0?

Dropbox can take the approach of not worrying if they want. Standing on years of head start perhaps. However: File sync strikes me as a lot closer to email than . Additionally, it seems logical to build/ship GDrive right into android. I say again: I'd worry like hell.

Agreed. File sharing is the type of thing where you can't just rely on first-mover-advantage. Google has the ability and infrastructure to offer more space for free on more devices and platforms.

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#118

Post by jpdoctor »

richardw wrote: post #93
jpdoctor wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You lost me. MS put out a product for free that was competing with other products for free. Are you really saying that is the situation here?

Netscape initially charged for the browser. "Netscape Navigator was not free to the general public until January 1998" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape

Good example. MS successfully killed off Netscape (the company) within a few years by bundling an inferior browser. It also prevented them from entering desktop OS, which was perceived as a threat back in the day.

Edit: FYI, Mosaic was the one I had in mind, which was free.

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#119

Post by brlewis »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #113
brlewis wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may be underestimating the prevalence of Dropbox shared folders, which make Dropbox into more type I.

Is Dropbox's business model not dependent on customer acquisition?

Every business model depends on customer acquisition. I don't understand where you're going with this question.

Re: Google Drive: Is the Dropbox Party Over?

#120

Post by rokhayakebe »

mattmaroon wrote: post #54

When I was in YC (same batch as Dropbox) this was a constant question. "What happens to Dropbox if Gdrive launches?" I don't actually remember what Drew and Arash thought, but a lot of people speculated on it. It was probably a real threat to them 4.5 years ago. I can't imagine it is now. Dropbox has a large, happy fanbase that's going to keep using it and keep spreading. They're going to keep growing. They've got a…

Nice to see this guy back.
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