How Dropbox Will Die • Hacker News Board

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#31

Post by ja2ke » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 2:23 AM UTC

kevinalexbrown wrote: post #21

antihero wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It already supports Android, OSX, Linux, Windows... I'd quite like it if they had Music syncing option, mind.

Music syncing, etc. was what I was referring to. I don't think they'll flame out right away, but in 5 years, what will they have that doesn't ship with your OS?

"Dropbox" is becoming a verb. They need to keep that up, so people ask if their device has Dropbox, or more appropriately (if incorrectly), ask if it "can Dropbox?"

It is a feature, a service, but so is Netflix, and Dropbox isn't encumbered by movie studios. They just have the neat "whoa this is almost magic" part.

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#32

Post by mahyarm » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 2:24 AM UTC

flocial wrote: post #12

Box.net is giving away 50GB to anyone that signs up or logs in through their mobile app. It's an amazing service but Steve Jobs is right when he says it's a feature.

Box.net's dropbox-like sync program for desktops is a paid account only feature too. And your limited to small file sizes. It guts the usefulness of that 50GB.

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#33

Post by 0x12 » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 2:33 AM UTC

aneth wrote: post #27

bigiain wrote: post #8

I've often thought they need a lower tier than the $100/year option. I get a remarkable amount of value from Dropbox, but somehow knowing I'm only using < 20% of the free tier makes it psychologically difficult to justify paying them $100/yr. If there were an option to pay $20 or $30 or so for what I'm getting for free, I'd probably just do it. $100 is a little too far outside the no-brainer price range for me though…

Why would you pay for what they happily offer for free?

To make sure they stay in business? I think a lot of people are more than happy to pay for useful services just to keep them in business. As long as the utility is larger than the price charged transactions will be made.

One website I'm familiar with has a freemium product, lots of users there pay just to support the site, even if they never actually use the premium bits.

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#34

Post by 0x12 » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 2:34 AM UTC

mahyarm wrote: post #30

Is a car stereo head unit a product or a feature?

It's a feature of a car when you buy it, it's a product when you upgrade the crappy unit that came with the car for something a bit nicer.

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#35

Post by zwigby » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 4:33 AM UTC

gergles wrote: post #20

ctdonath wrote: post #10

If Dropbox solves this, they're golden: http://xkcd.com/949/ If they don't, they'll die.

Copy it into ~/Dropbox/Public. Right-click, Dropbox, Copy public link. Paste. Done.

That's assuming you have drop box install on the computer, have an account. The point is my mom doesn't have a dropbox account so she's still sol in this example.

This isn't particularly on topic though.

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#36

Post by theSshow » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 9:04 AM UTC

How about Ubuntu One? They have Ubuntu, Windows, iOS, and Android support plus 5 GB of free storage. Mac support doesn't exist yet, but hopefully it'll be coming soon: https://one.ubuntu.com/

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#37

Post by grimen » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 3:09 PM UTC

I use Dropbox as of today, but I would easily - already considered it - replace it with multiple alternatives. The valuation of Dropbox got me choking more than LinkedIn valuation; they aren't worth a fraction of that. Every reality-checked human on this planet knows that. They should have accepted Apples offer, I think Bitcasa will get it instead.

Re: How Dropbox Will Die

#38

Post by aneth » Wed, Oct 19, 2011, 3:42 PM UTC

0x12 wrote: post #33

aneth wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you pay for what they happily offer for free?

To make sure they stay in business? I think a lot of people are more than happy to pay for useful services just to keep them in business. As long as the utility is larger than the price charged transactions will be made. One website I'm familiar with has a freemium product, lots of users there pay just to support the site, even if they never actually use the premium bits.

Ok, why would you pay for Dropbox of you didn't have to and they didn't ask you to? They clearly are not going out of business, at least until something better comes along.