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Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

fortune.com

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Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#131

Post by TeMPOraL »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #40

I used Dropbox for a few years, but ultimately switched to another big-name company service. Consumers now have great options available from all the big-name companies: Amazon Drive, Apple iCloud, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive. Meanwhile, in the enterprise world it looks like Box is dominating. Given this, I think it's reasonable to ask: what's their value proposition in 2017? I hadn't been following them for…

Paying DropBox user here. Reasons I loved them since day one:

- It Just Works™.

- It's bullshit-free. A folder that syncs. No upselling, no storing documents as JSON links only accessible through a web interface (hello Google Office Suite w/ Google Drive).

- Works on Linux.

- Relatively lightweight.

- The "Public" folder, which unfortunately they now retired, was a huge thing that convinced me to use them. With it, sharing anything to people was trivial, and the sharing was bullshit free - no web captive portal or anything, just a direct-to-file link, which I could (and did, a lot) use to e.g. embed images in posts on on-line boards, etc.

Axing the "Public" folder made DropBox lose significantly in my eyes, but I still like the service enough not to switch (and I don't recall anyone else even offering the equivalent of the "Public" folder).

Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#132

Post by tyingq »

pen2l wrote: post #10
flunhat wrote: post #9

They've come a long way from their Show HN 10 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 From a demo hacked together over a few months (written in Python, IIRC) and posted on HN to an IPO. Pretty cool, honestly.

I would be soooooo happy if I got to see the code that began it. Does it happen to available anywhere?

If you can find an old version of the dropbox client, someone did document how to decrypt and decompile it back to python source.

https://github.com/kholia/dedrop

Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#133

Post by deadbunny »

speedplane wrote: post #61
imron wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the original comments "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."

I remember that comment vividly, and love it. What better example of tech not understanding design and product-market fit?

Basically most HN comments on new products then.

Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#135

Post by chewyland »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #40

I used Dropbox for a few years, but ultimately switched to another big-name company service. Consumers now have great options available from all the big-name companies: Amazon Drive, Apple iCloud, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive. Meanwhile, in the enterprise world it looks like Box is dominating. Given this, I think it's reasonable to ask: what's their value proposition in 2017? I hadn't been following them for…

Dropbox is bulletproof, period.

Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#137

Post by wslh »

anovikov wrote: post #121
prklmn wrote: post #21

A major difference between between this tech boom and the dot com boom of the 90s is the general public had a real shot at investing in serious growth potential during the dot com boom. Now most of the growth is experienced under private ownership, then the grossly overvalued company is pawned off for the public to invest in. VCs have figured out how to extract most of the exciting gains.

If you want to replicate 90s experience of the dot-com boom, buy into ICOs now. And the end result will most probably be... well also same to 90s.

ICOs will evolve with more realistic offerings. The DAO disaster only happened one year ago and the community recovered very fast. The main point is the difficulty to access good deals early on and that is what is happening with new IPOs.

Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#138

Post by thecupisblue »

anovikov wrote: post #121
prklmn wrote: post #21

A major difference between between this tech boom and the dot com boom of the 90s is the general public had a real shot at investing in serious growth potential during the dot com boom. Now most of the growth is experienced under private ownership, then the grossly overvalued company is pawned off for the public to invest in. VCs have figured out how to extract most of the exciting gains.

If you want to replicate 90s experience of the dot-com boom, buy into ICOs now. And the end result will most probably be... well also same to 90s.

Exactly. The "startup boom" that's going on now is staying strong because tech is available to most people and people are becoming more and more accustomed to using services offered by startups. Cryptos are now in the same position tech was in 90's/early2K's - not available or unknown to most people but promoted as "easy money by easy investments". Dozens of useless companies banking in on people chasing cheap money.

Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#139

Post by albedoa »

imron wrote: post #11
pen2l wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be soooooo happy if I got to see the code that began it. Does it happen to available anywhere?

According to the original comments "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."

That guy still posts here. In one of his most recent comments [1] he says "it's not all that hard to file your own taxes the old-fashioned way" and that it takes him "a full 12-16 hours (a solid day or two on a weekend)" :D Is he a long gimmick?

1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13924397

Re: Dropbox Is Getting Ready for IPO

#140

Post by mattmanser »

Scea91 wrote: post #126
flunhat wrote: post #9

They've come a long way from their Show HN 10 years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 From a demo hacked together over a few months (written in Python, IIRC) and posted on HN to an IPO. Pretty cool, honestly.

Thanks for the link, it was really enlightening read. It is interesting to read the elaborated comments of some naysayers there who are stuck in their old ways and can't see the value of it yet. One of them describes his solution with FUSE and FTP that 'basically achieves the same' and has doubts that anyone would want to use Dropbox if they can use FTP. Same stuff surely happens here today.

Though most of the comments are positive, it's only really BrandonM's comment which looks silly in hindsight. Quite a few valid questions and thoughts too, where is this stored, how are you handling locked down corp accounts, etc.

It's a pity they hide the vote numbers these days.

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