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Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

blog.dropbox.com

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Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#171

Post by palata »

dmix wrote: post #153
jjoonathan wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but Dropbox Photos still: Lacks an exclusion mechanism, so icons leak in Includes STL files as photos and fails to display them Sometimes misses photos for no obvious reason It's difficult for auto-tagging to add value in the presence of unrelated dealbreakers. Laying off people working on unsexy features does not inspire confidence that they have these priorities in order.

> Laying off people working on unsexy features You guys are reading way, way too much into this press release. People here are acting they've abandoned their existing product and is betting the company on AI, when it could just as easily just be what every single major company has said recently ("we're exploring AI").

Also maybe it sounds better to say "we are restructuring to move to the next cool thing" than saying "we are laying off because... you know... things aren't going that great right now"?

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#172

Post by scarface74 »

afavour wrote: post #120
xwdv wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if I told you you could replicate all of that with proven battle tested technology… for free.

"you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224

And the iPod will fail because it doesn’t have wireless and has less space than the Nomad…

https://m.slashdot.org/story/21026

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#173

Post by donohoe »

rco8786 wrote: post #54
soared wrote: post #18

> In an ideal world, we’d simply shift people from one team to another. And we’ve done that wherever possible. However, our next stage of growth requires a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI and early-stage product development. We’ve been bringing in great talent in these areas over the last couple years and we'll need even more. Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatg…

> Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatgpt released, and then laying off 16% of your company to.. use ai to store files better? I really don’t see how new ai capabilities lead to big layoffs and new opportunities for Dropbox snark incoming - Imagine thinking you understand the product strategy for a 14 year old, publicly traded company with thousands of employees without working t…

snark incoming - so you're saying that you understand the product strategy for a 14 year old, publicly traded company with thousands of employees without working there or having any sort of insider knowledge?

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#174

Post by samstave »

I stopped using dropbox once condi rice took the lead... if there isnt a more telling projection of cointelpro as appointing condi fn rice as head of your data harvesting/mining company, the only other person least trustworthy would be the big dick cheney. Ill never use dropbox again, they cannot be trusted.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#175

Post by samstave »

soared wrote: post #18

> In an ideal world, we’d simply shift people from one team to another. And we’ve done that wherever possible. However, our next stage of growth requires a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI and early-stage product development. We’ve been bringing in great talent in these areas over the last couple years and we'll need even more. Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatg…

It allows them to mine your data better... if you store anything on dropbox, its been catalogued and read.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#176

Post by ramraj07 »

baby wrote: post #83
avnfish wrote: post #25

I recently migrated from Dropbox to Google One. I find Dropbox's personal pricing really baffling: you get 2 GB for free or have to move all the way up to 2 TB and pay £100 a year. 100GB for £16 via Google is a much more sensible offer.

I’m thinking of doing the same, especially as the Dropbox app doesn’t sync on iPhone whereas google photos do. But Ive delayed the migration for years as its too much of a pain

I would recommend staying out simply because I trust google less with my primary data store backup than I do Dropbox. Especially with the risk of account locking.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#177

Post by arthurofbabylon »

So hopeful. People are so hopeful that AI will pan out favorably for them, even when their arguments are a stretch.

On this thread, there’s the following sentiment… “Dropbox has access to your data so they are well positioned to do some AI stuff on your data.” But also you have your data so you could work with really any party you want, and Dropbox has few advantages by being an existing custodian. Custodian status probably is not the differentiating factor in a race to build AI tools.

AI optimism. I just don’t see the argument. I don’t see how it is good for Dropbox, or the enthusiastic pundits, or even me! (I use the tools, too, but my income and quality of life have not skyrocketed.) My suspicion is that things like Dropbox laying off 16% becoming part of the AI optimism narrative – and AI optimism in general – has little to do with the prospects of AI and much to do with the reactive patterns of opinionated storytellers.

Specifically, I think people enthusiastic about AI prospects are enthusiastic because it is the one empowering (encouraging) response they can take… not because it is warranted. That’s not criticism, just an exploration, and I’m well-aware that I could be wrong.

This is a layoff announcement. We shouldn’t expect any AI realism from it.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#178

Post by ilyt »

pdntspa wrote: post #99
soared wrote: post #18

> In an ideal world, we’d simply shift people from one team to another. And we’ve done that wherever possible. However, our next stage of growth requires a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI and early-stage product development. We’ve been bringing in great talent in these areas over the last couple years and we'll need even more. Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatg…

Really tired of how everyone is always trying to take over the world. Can a utility just stay a utility?

Not if company is publicly traded or has investors.

Only companies where owner is top boss can, sometimes. The moment boss has to answer to investors, growth is required.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#179

Post by ramraj07 »

AJRF wrote: post #41

"These transitions are never easy, but I’m determined to ensure that Dropbox is at the forefront of the AI era, just as we were at the forefront of the shift to mobile and the cloud. We’ll need all hands on deck as machine intelligence gives us the tools to reimagine our existing businesses and invent new ones. And I'm committed to doing everything in my power to best position ourselves for the future and unlock our…

I’d love to be able to just ask dropbox what my passport number is, or to find the file my auditor gave me last year with recommendations.

Re: Dropbox to reduce global workforce by about 16%, or 500 staff

#180

Post by coldtea »

rco8786 wrote: post #54
soared wrote: post #18

> In an ideal world, we’d simply shift people from one team to another. And we’ve done that wherever possible. However, our next stage of growth requires a different mix of skill sets, particularly in AI and early-stage product development. We’ve been bringing in great talent in these areas over the last couple years and we'll need even more. Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatg…

> Imagine building a company that lets users store files online, seeing chatgpt released, and then laying off 16% of your company to.. use ai to store files better? I really don’t see how new ai capabilities lead to big layoffs and new opportunities for Dropbox snark incoming - Imagine thinking you understand the product strategy for a 14 year old, publicly traded company with thousands of employees without working t…

>snark incoming - Imagine thinking you understand the product strategy for a 14 year old, publicly traded company with thousands of employees without working there or having any sort of insider knowledge.

Snark incoming. Imaging a society so shitty that you have to try to "understand the product strategy for a 14 year old publicly traded company"

That is, one society in which companies dont go about their business, aiming for sustainable growth and a healthy profit, but pivot to whatever unrelated technology (or, more often, bullshit fad) comes next, to prop their stock or to increase their valuation when they're sold.

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