Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon • Hacker News Board

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#131

Post by jdunck » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 12:47 AM UTC

antidoh wrote: post #130

barik wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When I say that their "My Documents" folder is a level above their Dropbox folder, I get a blank stare." You might get a blank stare, because Windows itself has been trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to move away from this hierarchical model, blurring this metaphor. Consider the Libraries feature, which can essentially collect many folders (My Documents, Dropbox\Documents) and can represent them as a single virtual l…

"Consider the Libraries feature" My gawd, I can't even figure out what's where in the Libraries context.

The Libraries feature is essentially a sandbox for symlinks. It's just that the UI misrepresents the proper mental model.

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#132

Post by rlu » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 1:01 AM UTC

tammer wrote: post #61

antidoh wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have helped a computerphobe (hates computers and Internet, clueless, but must use them) with Dropbox. She gets that her folders on various computers around town are synchronized. I had a very difficult time explaining to her that her same folders and files are available via the web interface. Those people are out there.

Most people (as in the majority of the population with access to digital media) have a very difficult time understanding that the filesystem is a hierarchy. I'm always espousing the necessity of backups to my friends/family, which means I've usually got the role of setting up a Dropbox account for someone without a technical background. When I say that their "My Documents" folder is a level above their Dropbox folder…

>When I say that their "My Documents" folder is a level above their Dropbox folder, I get a blank stare.

I usually rephrase this as "your Dropbox folder is in the My Documents folder" which they DO understand because they're used to making folders and files inside of other folders.

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#133

Post by rlu » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 1:26 AM UTC

Karunamon wrote: post #104

My decision to abandon Dropbox in favor of Google Drive seems to have been the correct one, if they're going to go the route of removing functionality and keeping their prices static. (Note: I'm aware that Google Drive doesn't have this function. I don't use it for that anyways.)

Out of curiosity, what was your rationale for choosing Google Drive over SkyDrive?

SkyDrive:

* gives you 7GB vs Google's 5. (and 25gb if you ever used it before the client got released)

* has a sick feature where, from skydrive.com, you can browse your entire computer and download files. So if you forget to put a file in the skydrive folder you can still access it remotely

* supports more platforms than Google Drive

* doesn't destroy Office documents

Yes, I am affiliated with Microsoft but I am genuinely interested in why you chose to migrate to Google Drive over SkyDrive. Did you not know about the things I listed or does Google offer something you care about more?

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#134

Post by Karunamon » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 1:48 AM UTC

rlu wrote: post #133

Karunamon wrote: post #104

My decision to abandon Dropbox in favor of Google Drive seems to have been the correct one, if they're going to go the route of removing functionality and keeping their prices static. (Note: I'm aware that Google Drive doesn't have this function. I don't use it for that anyways.)

Out of curiosity, what was your rationale for choosing Google Drive over SkyDrive? SkyDrive: * gives you 7GB vs Google's 5. (and 25gb if you ever used it before the client got released) * has a sick feature where, from skydrive.com, you can browse your entire computer and download files. So if you forget to put a file in the skydrive folder you can still access it remotely * supports more platforms than Google Drive…

The big one was the file upload limit. The fact that I have X amount of storage and can't split that up any way I want always struck me as a bit silly.

Another one was that I'm already heavily invested into Google's ecosystem (apps, android, the whole nine yards), so splitting that up with another company didn't make much sense.

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#135

Post by Centigonal » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 1:54 AM UTC

anxrn wrote: post #129

AgentConundrum wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> almost no one was using their Public folder I almost exclusively use my public folder. I mean, I keep things in other folders as well, but my main use case is typically "I want to send this file to $friend, so I'll just save it in my public folder and send them the link."

They made it easier to do this. You can send a public link to any file anywhere in Dropbox now.

No, now it's saddled with weird arbitrary restrictions and a URL tree that makes no sense.

Sorry for the tone -- I'm a little frustrated.

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#136

Post by Centigonal » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 1:57 AM UTC

soupboy wrote: post #93

reneherse wrote: post #90

Houston, we have a problem. Just about the only thing I use Dropbox for is the public folder. I've gotten many of my friends and collaborators to sign up for the service, based on the recommendation of this very feature. It's been a real boon for rapidly iterating front end mock ups. Dropping support for what Dropbox evidently regards as "edge use cases" is not how you "build the next Apple or Google". The Public fol…

I think you are overreacting. Are you serious about using the public folder for "rapidly iterating front end mock ups"? Why would you want to put sensitive and confidential data for everyone in the world to see?

I use it this way, too. If this feature goes away, I will stop using Dropbox, simply because most of the convenience that gave the service value for me would be gone. I don't think he's overreacting.

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#137

Post by Centigonal » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 1:59 AM UTC

CrazedGeek wrote: post #27

bane wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that you could share a link and it'd be seamlessly downloaded by a receiver of the link....you could even use them to handle images in web pages for example. Now? The person who is receiving the link has to go to a web page, then click download. It's an unnecessary extra step and a downgrade in the user experience. Even worse, it's now harder to keep track of what you have shared and what you don't. Fr…

"To the receiver of the link DB just looks like an old fashioned file-sharing site a la megaupload and not something special." How do the direct links help DB look "special"? To me, they scream "generic CDN".

Direct links are convenient for me, the end user. That's why I use dropbox -- to have an easy way to put files up onto the internet to show others.

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#138

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 2:09 AM UTC

anxrn wrote: post #129

AgentConundrum wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> almost no one was using their Public folder I almost exclusively use my public folder. I mean, I keep things in other folders as well, but my main use case is typically "I want to send this file to $friend, so I'll just save it in my public folder and send them the link."

They made it easier to do this. You can send a public link to any file anywhere in Dropbox now.

[deleted]

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#139

Post by zenocon » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 2:17 AM UTC

euroclydon wrote: post #51

What I find disappointing is their focus on photo uploads. I think users really just want to pick a best of breed provider for major features like this in their lives, and Facebook has photos sharing locked up. Dropbox has brought simple file synchronization between machines that are not necessarily on the same network, to the masses, but they need to do it in away that doesn't make you want to drop Dropbox when it g…

Speaking of photos, I plugged in my iphone today, and itunes pops up this big "Send all your photos to Dropbox auto-magically" advertisement.

Re: Dropbox' Public/ folders will be phased out soon

#140

Post by CrazedGeek » Sat, Jun 16, 2012, 3:13 AM UTC

Centigonal wrote: post #137

CrazedGeek wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"To the receiver of the link DB just looks like an old fashioned file-sharing site a la megaupload and not something special." How do the direct links help DB look "special"? To me, they scream "generic CDN".

Direct links are convenient for me, the end user. That's why I use dropbox -- to have an easy way to put files up onto the internet to show others.

Not my point. To the person who's receiving your link:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/9910153/20111022_131203.jpg

looks more or less identical to:

http://i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/720/180...

Both are direct links, and neither tell you much about the site that you're downloading the pictures from. The indirect link actually tells people that Dropbox exists as a service. Whether that's better for the end user or not isn't relevant to what I said.