Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#1

Post by GavinB » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 2:20 PM UTC

Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]
imgur.com

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#2

Post by dlytle » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 2:47 PM UTC

Huh. I had no idea that this feature was even available. I imagine that keeping an unlimited amount of undo data would take up a heck of a lot of space that wasn't actually needed, so it makes a lot of sense that they're switching it to premium accounts only.

To me, even 30 days seems generous. I suspect they have statistics on how often people undo changes, and from how far back. It'd be interesting to see the data that motivated the "30 day" rule, if it exists.

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#3

Post by kasterma » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 3:00 PM UTC

I find this rather upsetting. I picked the unlimited option; but think that this removes the pressure on them to make a nice interface to all the deleted files.

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#4

Post by pclark » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 3:07 PM UTC

...and when you click the "Upgrade my account to have unlimited undo history" you have to pay.

> If you'd like to have unlimited undo history, then you need to upgrade to one of our paid accounts.

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#5

Post by speby » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 3:18 PM UTC

Yeah, that's not the same message they sent to all people. Mine gave me a choice but if I chose the Unlimited, the message clearly stated I would need to upgrade.

Oh well, either way, I don't mind. I don't require the unlimited history at this point right now, anyways.

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#6

Post by FahnRobier » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 3:32 PM UTC

If the "deleted" files didn't count towards your total usage percentage, someone was eventually going to game the system and use the "deleted" area for storage and undelete things as they needed them. The 2G of total space becomes swap for the deleted file storage area ;)

30 days seems kind of short though.

Rob

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#7

Post by GavinB » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 4:37 PM UTC

speby wrote: post #5

Yeah, that's not the same message they sent to all people. Mine gave me a choice but if I chose the Unlimited, the message clearly stated I would need to upgrade. Oh well, either way, I don't mind. I don't require the unlimited history at this point right now, anyways.

I'm on the "free six months of 50 GB" offer so I didn't see that. When the six months runs out I'll be paying them, and glad to do so.

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#8

Post by mhartl » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 5:14 PM UTC

FahnRobier wrote: post #6

If the "deleted" files didn't count towards your total usage percentage, someone was eventually going to game the system and use the "deleted" area for storage and undelete things as they needed them. The 2G of total space becomes swap for the deleted file storage area ;) 30 days seems kind of short though. Rob

N.B. From http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html:

  Please don't sign comments...They're already signed with your username.

Re: Dropbox ends unlimited undo--unless you ask them not to [screenshot]

#9

Post by mhartl » Wed, Jul 15, 2009, 5:23 PM UTC

Argh. I understand why they're doing this, but unlimited undo was at least half the reason I picked Dropbox in the first place:

  1. Put file that I probably don't need in Dropbox
  2. Delete the file after the sync
  3. Never worry that I just deleted a file I might actually need

Of course, I could upgrade my account to keep unlimited undo, but I don't need the extra space, and their price is pretty steep just to get this one feature. I'm probably better off versioning my Dropbox directory and sticking it on an external drive. Except I can't get at deleted files that are more than 30 days old that I previously put in Dropbox for the very purpose of not having to worry about them. Man, this sucks. I guess I have some extra work to do before August 1.