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The new Dropbox

blog.dropbox.com

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Re: The new Dropbox

#551

Post by jonaswouters »

kyrra wrote: post #243
pgm8705 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My previous experience with Google Drive was that it would chew up CPU and memory a lot more than I liked. I've been pretty happy with iCloud Drive since I switched to it. Works seamlessly and effortlessly on my Mac and iPhone, affordable pricing fo storage which can be shared with family, and also solves my photo storage needs with Apple Photos. The only drawback is the lack of shared folders, but they just announce…

(I work for Google, not on drive. Opinions are my own). Have you tried the newer drive client? Backup & Sync[0] replaced the old client and I believe is a bit better than the older client. If you are on GSuite, there is the Drive File Stream[1] that is a lazy-load of resources from a drive folder (which is why it's targeted for businesses only). [0] https://www.google.com/drive/download/backup-and-sync/ [1] https://s…

Backup and Sync is not so great. I wish the Photos backup client was still available, and I'd use that together with InSync.

InSync is great and works on most platforms. I've been using it since dropbox lost a bunch of my important files in 2014. (I have multiple backups now)

Re: The new Dropbox

#552

Post by piva00 »

0x906 wrote: post #280
vvoyer wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After receiving an email like: > This is all for just $20.88 more a year 1. I never asked for anything more 2. you still charge me for more at a higher price I just bought 2TB data on iCloud, moving everything there. Now I will have good photo application with face recognition which is awesome. Do not expect any move from Dropbox to make your personal life better, they won't. They are going towards enterprise custome…

I self-hosted a Nextcloud installation and used 2x 4TB drives. The first is full dedicated to the Nextcloud use while the second is rsync-ed to the first every night. Then I deleted my 8 years old Dropbox account. Currently my only cloud provider is iCloud just for the photos, contacts, iwhatever backup.

Looks like HN is going full circle: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224

Re: The new Dropbox

#553

Post by Dylan16807 »

rsync wrote: post #547
jng wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried to use unison for serious production work a few years ago, and it fell short. It would fail or become incredibly slow with large (but not huge) amounts of data. A pity because the concept is great. I wonder if it has improved since.

"I wonder if it has improved since." Unison is very interesting and it is, indeed, very special in that it solves the very specific use-case of my parent post. However, my own opinion, and that of just about everyone who cares about backup tools is that 'borg' is the "one true way": https://www.stavros.io/posts/holy-grail-backups/

Any idea if this benchmark is still accurate? https://github.com/gilbertchen/benchmarking

('attic' on there is actually borg)

Borg has a lot going for it, but I'm hesitant to call something a holy grail or one true way if it can't do compact diffs. Especially when it needs active server software, which makes pruning much easier.

Re: The new Dropbox

#554

Post by marc_omorain »

I have a few qualms with this app:

1. For a Linux user, 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. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.

2. It doesn't actually replace a USB drive. Most people I know e-mail files to themselves or host them somewhere online to be able to perform presentations, but they still carry a USB drive in case there are connectivity problems. This does not solve the connectivity issue.

3. It does not seem very "viral" or income-generating. I know this is premature at this point, but without charging users for the service, is it reasonable to expect to make money off of this?

Re: The new Dropbox

#555

Post by IanSanders »

granshaw wrote: post #537
apple4ever wrote: post #523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. If you have a niche, and you do it WELL, you can do that. And Dropbox did. But now they are messing that up. And not just this. They implemented a 3 device limit, and the next level is super expensive. Unlike any of their competitors. I'd say that is not a great business strategy.

Doing well in a small niche is fine for a lifestyle company - for a public company like Dropbox expected to keep growing? Not so much.

If it's staff that is expected to keep growing, then yes.

Reminds of Evernote which eventually had 50:50 management/development split

Re: The new Dropbox

#556

Post by zymhan »

Max-q wrote: post #387
zymhan wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did I miss where they're charging existing customers more? My account page still shows $99/yr.

I got a this mail: > Dropbox Plus just got an upgrade. And a new price—starting on [xxx] , 2019 (that’s your next billing cycle), Dropbox Plus will be $119.88 a year (plus any applicable taxes).

Ah I see, that is quite unfortunate. I'm guessing the changes are mostly a cover for inevitably having to raise prices.

Also, I've been watching their stock price, so presumably they have been too.

Re: The new Dropbox

#557

Post by wnscooke »

Causality1 wrote: post #485
vvoyer wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After receiving an email like: > This is all for just $20.88 more a year 1. I never asked for anything more 2. you still charge me for more at a higher price I just bought 2TB data on iCloud, moving everything there. Now I will have good photo application with face recognition which is awesome. Do not expect any move from Dropbox to make your personal life better, they won't. They are going towards enterprise custome…

Yeah, they fucked me when they restricted free accounts to 3 devices. As someone who spent years preaching the gospel of Dropbox to my non-techie friends and family, the number of angry phonecalls I received was more than enough to never recommend them to anyone ever again.

Who called, and why were they angry (at you)?

Re: The new Dropbox

#558

Post by valerij »

liyanage wrote: post #203

I've been a Dropbox user for many years but I'm looking for a replacement. What drives me nuts and hasn't gotten better over the years is their truly awful Python-based macOS client software. It is constantly burning a ton of CPU/battery. It's always at or near the top of Activity Monitor's list in the Energy tab. It seems like their app constantly reacts to any file system activity, even if that activity is outside…

the windows client constantly keeps a 3d rendering context (chrome) alive preventing my gpu from downclocking.

as long as the client is running, my GPU is tacted at 1.6 GHz, if i kill the client GPU settles at around 0.14 GHz. this makes quite the difference in power consumption of my machine when left idle for multiple hours the day.

nowadays i only start the client when i want to sync files or expect to receive some uploaded by my peers. after thats is done the client gets killed immediately.

but why does it have an 3d context running you ask? for the small notification window where i can track the sync progress. i still remember the "native" solution they used few years back, did not have drop shadows, but the entire functionality was present via an WinAPI menus. Considering one can, with some OwnerDraw work, put progress bars and scrollable lists in Menus, i don't get the point of using an whole web browser to display a 600x200 popup.

They really should take a look at bvckup2, how fast and efficient a backup/sync tool could be done in native way

Re: The new Dropbox

#559

Post by dingle_thunk »

liyanage wrote: post #203

I've been a Dropbox user for many years but I'm looking for a replacement. What drives me nuts and hasn't gotten better over the years is their truly awful Python-based macOS client software. It is constantly burning a ton of CPU/battery. It's always at or near the top of Activity Monitor's list in the Energy tab. It seems like their app constantly reacts to any file system activity, even if that activity is outside…

Pretty happy with OneDrive for Mac these days. They've been investing in improving it, and it shows.

Re: The new Dropbox

#560

Post by dual_basis »

rsync wrote: post #547
jng wrote: post #498

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried to use unison for serious production work a few years ago, and it fell short. It would fail or become incredibly slow with large (but not huge) amounts of data. A pity because the concept is great. I wonder if it has improved since.

"I wonder if it has improved since." Unison is very interesting and it is, indeed, very special in that it solves the very specific use-case of my parent post. However, my own opinion, and that of just about everyone who cares about backup tools is that 'borg' is the "one true way": https://www.stavros.io/posts/holy-grail-backups/

What about restic?

https://restic.net/

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