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5 million Dropboxes

blog.dropbox.com

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Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#41

Post by elblanco »

mynameishere wrote: post #36
elblanco wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is a toaster awesome because its operation is straightforward? Yes. We all own one don't we? Ever tried to toast bread without a toaster? It takes far more effort, is far less efficient, and the results are usually far less consistent.

There's a possibility that this guy's opinion is also the consensus opinion in which case I'm not going to win any arguments. This was all a semantic misunderstanding. When I think of the word "awesome" I think of something that inspires "awe", which I think is beyond the scope of file syncing. Let me ask you guys one thing though: Is there anyone here willing to admit that they would be incapable of making a workabl…

> When I think of the word "awesome" I think of something that inspires "awe", which I think is beyond the scope of file syncing.

I see your point. But having struggled with file syncing for literally decades, having somebody come along and make it so easily that it seems unimpressive and obvious really is very cool.

It's kinda like the old adage, "the best special FX in a movie are the ones you don't notice."

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#42

Post by timwiseman »

mynameishere wrote: post #36
elblanco wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is a toaster awesome because its operation is straightforward? Yes. We all own one don't we? Ever tried to toast bread without a toaster? It takes far more effort, is far less efficient, and the results are usually far less consistent.

There's a possibility that this guy's opinion is also the consensus opinion in which case I'm not going to win any arguments. This was all a semantic misunderstanding. When I think of the word "awesome" I think of something that inspires "awe", which I think is beyond the scope of file syncing. Let me ask you guys one thing though: Is there anyone here willing to admit that they would be incapable of making a workabl…

Yes, I would admit I can't make it, and I am a reasonable competent developer (admittedly I'm a DBA first and a developer second and I tend to do different types of apps when I do development, but...).

Remember there is a difference between making synching software, which is relatively easy, and making synching software that is absolutely reliable (so far as I've seen) and easy to use for anyone. These things are relatively hard.

Now, to do that and produce a client for every major OS out there as well as a web interface... Yes, I am impressed.

I just wish they had one smaller tier out there though. It would be alot easier to justify say $60 a year on my tight budget than it is $10 a month (smallest paid tier last I checked...)

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#43

Post by gridspy »

mynameishere wrote: post #36
elblanco wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is a toaster awesome because its operation is straightforward? Yes. We all own one don't we? Ever tried to toast bread without a toaster? It takes far more effort, is far less efficient, and the results are usually far less consistent.

There's a possibility that this guy's opinion is also the consensus opinion in which case I'm not going to win any arguments. This was all a semantic misunderstanding. When I think of the word "awesome" I think of something that inspires "awe", which I think is beyond the scope of file syncing. Let me ask you guys one thing though: Is there anyone here willing to admit that they would be incapable of making a workabl…

Call of duty is also Awesome. However, it took a much larger team to create.

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#44

Post by davidedicillo »

I just wish Apple will let to save the files you create on the iPad your Dropbox account. Sadly they will probably do that with Mobile Me (I have an account already), but it doesn't work as smoothly as Dropbox, especially for sharing with other users,IMO.

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#45

Post by protomyth »

davidedicillo wrote: post #44

I just wish Apple will let to save the files you create on the iPad your Dropbox account. Sadly they will probably do that with Mobile Me (I have an account already), but it doesn't work as smoothly as Dropbox, especially for sharing with other users,IMO.

Isn't there already an iPhone / iPod touch app? I would imagine access to the new file area might not be a huge adaption.

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#46

Post by rgoddard »

mynameishere wrote: post #28
zzzmarcus wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd think so, right? It's a little more than that though. Dropbox is useful to me for the following reasons: --It is an easy way to share music with a couple friends who aren't tech savvy. Installing it was easy for them and I was able to say "just drag it from iTunes to your dropbox folder" and it worked. Other ways of sharing were too complex. --It keeps software that doesn't have built in syncing synced. I use i…

It's a little more than that though. Exactly as I said. It basically uploads and downloads files; your hyphenated examples are all under the category of "uploading and downloading". It does other things, but that's basically it. I hate it when I speak plain facts and get everybody disagreeing with me.

I think the problem that you are running into is that while the concept is simple and essentially what they have done is make it simple to upload/download files and easily share across computers with yourself and others, this is a nontrivial problem. On top of that, the implementation works seamlessly across different operating systems. The reaction you are running into is probably akin to people who love the iPod. A device which does one thing and does it well.

As you have seen others mention, by creating a solution to a nontrivial problem (and if you have ever had to deal with file synchronization you know this is not simple) it has enabled usage scenarios that were previously too difficult to accomplish or at least not worth the hassle. So I can understand people's reactions to your comments.

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#47

Post by jimmybot »

jkincaid wrote: post #20

They've edited the post so that it no longer includes anything about 5 million users. Apparently it was premature (still love Dropbox though).

Looks like it's 4 million, which is still worth announcing.

With more users, I'm curious if paid accounts are growing at the same rate as free accounts. I also pretty much assume that a much higher percentage of all users in the US will be paid accounts versus other countries, but would be curious what their actual experience is.

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#48

Post by felixmar »

andrewtj wrote: post #40
felixmar wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Xs4all is actually the most expensive consumer ISP in the Netherlands. The cheapest ISPs offer 20 Mb DSL for 20 euros per month. DSL is slowly becoming legacy technology due to high speed fiber and cable connections.

Oh, I thought it was middle of the range like Internode. The equivalent of Xs4all in Australia would be Telstra who's ADSL services start at 1.5M with 2gb (upload/download) for $39.95; additional usage charged at 15¢/MB and capped at an excess of $300.

That's pretty bad. Bandwidth caps and charges create a different mindset that hurts many providers like Dropbox. If i transfer a large file i only think about how long it will take, not how much it would cost. Unfortunately bandwidth caps are often due to a lack of competition between ISPs.

Re: 5 million Dropboxes

#49

Post by stumm »

jimmybot wrote: post #47
jkincaid wrote: post #20

They've edited the post so that it no longer includes anything about 5 million users. Apparently it was premature (still love Dropbox though).

Looks like it's 4 million, which is still worth announcing. With more users, I'm curious if paid accounts are growing at the same rate as free accounts. I also pretty much assume that a much higher percentage of all users in the US will be paid accounts versus other countries, but would be curious what their actual experience is.

They already stated that they had 4 million users a month ago: http://blog.dropbox.com/?p=289
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