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There are certainly reasons why Apple shouldn't buy Dropbox, but I think there are more reasons why it should happen: 1) It DOES work across all OS's. iTunes

There are certainly reasons why Apple shouldn't buy Dropbox, but I think there are more reasons why it should happen: 1) It DOES work across all OS's. iTunes works really well on Windows and OSX. Apple would actually want something that can easily be used by all customers. Imagine how small the iPod/iTunes/iPhone base would be if it were just an Apple only product. 2) Their mobile API. This would be a great offering to iPhone devs. By using the Mobile API of dropbox, the filesystem needs for iPhone/iPad apps gets solved. 3) The Dropbox team clearly knows how to build a great cloud product. Apple just doesn't have that in their DNA from what MobileMe has shown. 4) I think Apple could offer a price that makes sense to the Dropbox team and investors like Sequoia and YC. 5) I'm assuming Apple would offer the service for free. Maybe not the 50gb service, but certainly > 2gb. Dropbox would now be used by tens of millions of people within the next 12 months. Could you imagine how much better people's lives will be? 6) I don't know how Apple is post acquisition as they don't do many of them. My guess is, that the team could still flourish/enjoy themselves there.

w1ntermute 16y ago
iTunes works really well on Windows A large number of people would beg to differ with you.
- mistermann 16y ago
  I used to complain about iTunes on Windows, but you just need a modern machine. Now that I have an new i7-920 overclocked to 4GHz, with 12 GB of ram, iTunes responds usually under a second, as long as I'm not running anything else of course.
  - thewileyone 16y ago
    Cool spec'd rig ... and you paid how much so that iTunes can run properly?
- jokermatt999 16y ago
  Indeed. I'm not exaggerating when I say iTunes is literally one of the worst applications I've ever used. Sluggish, constantly (and needlessly) updating, horribly out of place UI, locks up when adding tracks or syncing, eats memory like nobody's business, unnecessary cruft added in, lack of FLAC support (last I checked), no skinning or addon system, etc, etc. I honestly just meant to write one or two things there, but the various annoyances just kept springing to mind. I used it for years due to having an iPod and not putting enough effort in to switch, but once I finally did it was liberating.
  - joe_bleau 16y ago
    What did you switch to?
    - jokermatt999 16y ago
      I tried Songbird, but that was just too buggy to consider using seriously. Nice idea, but it was just as bad as iTunes in my experience. I used Amarok before the upgrade, and liked that pretty well for a while. Easy keyboard shortcuts are great. So far, I've been sticking with Foobar because it has a nice amount of customization built in, and components for everything else. Unfortunately, I haven't found a good one to sync to my phone (not that iTunes offered that of course...), so I'm trying doubleTwist for that. However, I'm not really set as to what I'm using, and I'm still looking around to see if there's anything that catches my eye. Must haves are good library management for about 8000 or so files, keyboard shortcuts, an easy search method, and some form of filter pane view (iTunes did do those last two right at least). Any recommendations? Edit: I should add that I'd really like to replace doubleTwist. It takes forever to start itself up, and it doesn't even automatically scan my music folder for new media. However, I really could use some form of automatic management for my Droid, since it's my only music player other than my computer at the moment.
      - joe_bleau 16y ago
        I too am considering Foobar2k. I'm so sick of itunes I might just try rockbox on my mini and nano. Maybe then I could use rsync to sync the device.
- ericd 16y ago
  A very vocal but small percentage of users would beg to differ, and that percentage seems to be vastly overrepresented online. Most of the less demanding PC users I know seem to like it, and that's what matters for a big company like Apple. It gets most of the big things mostly right.
  - w1ntermute 16y ago
    You're looking at it the wrong way. The number of people not complaining is not relevant - they simply have no opinion. What must be compared is the number of people who are complaining about it vs. the number of people who are applauding it. And don't give me that crap about how the complainers shout louder than the applauders, because on almost every tech website, including this one, the Apple fanboys are louder than the Apple haters.
    - ericd 16y ago
      It absolutely is relevant - if Apple cares about usage, and 90% of the market doesn't care either way and uses iTunes because it just happens to be the most convenient option since it integrates with their iPod, that's GREAT for Apple. It will encourage that 90% to buy further iPods when it's time to upgrade, and that's ultimately one of the main purposes of iTunes. I'm looking at it from the angle of their wanting to make money.
- jsz0 16y ago
  For what it's worth I think iTunes on Windows is pretty good if you want all the features it offers. I often see people compare iTunes to much smaller feature-lean applications that suits their needs better. That's not a fantastic argument if you put both applications in front of someone who wants to rip CDs, buy music, download podcasts, arrange their iPhone home screens, manage applications, sync files, etc. VLC or Foobar would be mostly useless to those people (at least without some serious customizations) It really depends what features an individual is looking for.
- robgough 16y ago
  To be fair, it's not much better on a Mac
joe_bleau 16y ago
"iTunes works really well on Windows and OSX"? I've run it on windows, and I think it blows really hard. I can't believe it got released, it's so bad. Maybe the UI makes sense to people coming from OSX, but it certainly breaks a bunch of windows UI standards.
- mistermann 16y ago
  Not just windows standards, computing standards in general. It seems impossible to find where you have to go to run an action, whereas in almost any other app I've used, the developer puts it where it is contextually relevant. iTunes on windows, I swear, they deliberately put things in the wrong place, the thinking being that this will turn people off windows?
s3graham 16y ago
> iTunes works really on Windows... Please don't troll here, help keep the level of discussion high.
RossM 16y ago
>Their mobile API. This would be a great offering to iPhone devs. It would, but I would also expect to see Dropbox for Android decline quickly. It would be a great thing for Apple to acquire Dropbox, but it would also be a horrendous outcome for all non-Apple users.

w1ntermute 16y ago

iTunes works really well on Windows A large number of people would beg to differ with you.

mistermann 16y ago
I used to complain about iTunes on Windows, but you just need a modern machine. Now that I have an new i7-920 overclocked to 4GHz, with 12 GB of ram, iTunes responds usually under a second, as long as I'm not running anything else of course.
- thewileyone 16y ago
  Cool spec'd rig ... and you paid how much so that iTunes can run properly?
jokermatt999 16y ago
Indeed. I'm not exaggerating when I say iTunes is literally one of the worst applications I've ever used. Sluggish, constantly (and needlessly) updating, horribly out of place UI, locks up when adding tracks or syncing, eats memory like nobody's business, unnecessary cruft added in, lack of FLAC support (last I checked), no skinning or addon system, etc, etc. I honestly just meant to write one or two things there, but the various annoyances just kept springing to mind. I used it for years due to having an iPod and not putting enough effort in to switch, but once I finally did it was liberating.
- joe_bleau 16y ago
  What did you switch to?
  - jokermatt999 16y ago
    I tried Songbird, but that was just too buggy to consider using seriously. Nice idea, but it was just as bad as iTunes in my experience. I used Amarok before the upgrade, and liked that pretty well for a while. Easy keyboard shortcuts are great. So far, I've been sticking with Foobar because it has a nice amount of customization built in, and components for everything else. Unfortunately, I haven't found a good one to sync to my phone (not that iTunes offered that of course...), so I'm trying doubleTwist for that. However, I'm not really set as to what I'm using, and I'm still looking around to see if there's anything that catches my eye. Must haves are good library management for about 8000 or so files, keyboard shortcuts, an easy search method, and some form of filter pane view (iTunes did do those last two right at least). Any recommendations? Edit: I should add that I'd really like to replace doubleTwist. It takes forever to start itself up, and it doesn't even automatically scan my music folder for new media. However, I really could use some form of automatic management for my Droid, since it's my only music player other than my computer at the moment.
    - joe_bleau 16y ago
      I too am considering Foobar2k. I'm so sick of itunes I might just try rockbox on my mini and nano. Maybe then I could use rsync to sync the device.
ericd 16y ago
A very vocal but small percentage of users would beg to differ, and that percentage seems to be vastly overrepresented online. Most of the less demanding PC users I know seem to like it, and that's what matters for a big company like Apple. It gets most of the big things mostly right.
- w1ntermute 16y ago
  You're looking at it the wrong way. The number of people not complaining is not relevant - they simply have no opinion. What must be compared is the number of people who are complaining about it vs. the number of people who are applauding it. And don't give me that crap about how the complainers shout louder than the applauders, because on almost every tech website, including this one, the Apple fanboys are louder than the Apple haters.
  - ericd 16y ago
    It absolutely is relevant - if Apple cares about usage, and 90% of the market doesn't care either way and uses iTunes because it just happens to be the most convenient option since it integrates with their iPod, that's GREAT for Apple. It will encourage that 90% to buy further iPods when it's time to upgrade, and that's ultimately one of the main purposes of iTunes. I'm looking at it from the angle of their wanting to make money.
jsz0 16y ago
For what it's worth I think iTunes on Windows is pretty good if you want all the features it offers. I often see people compare iTunes to much smaller feature-lean applications that suits their needs better. That's not a fantastic argument if you put both applications in front of someone who wants to rip CDs, buy music, download podcasts, arrange their iPhone home screens, manage applications, sync files, etc. VLC or Foobar would be mostly useless to those people (at least without some serious customizations) It really depends what features an individual is looking for.
robgough 16y ago
To be fair, it's not much better on a Mac

joe_bleau 16y ago

"iTunes works really well on Windows and OSX"? I've run it on windows, and I think it blows really hard. I can't believe it got released, it's so bad. Maybe the UI makes sense to people coming from OSX, but it certainly breaks a bunch of windows UI standards.

mistermann 16y ago
Not just windows standards, computing standards in general. It seems impossible to find where you have to go to run an action, whereas in almost any other app I've used, the developer puts it where it is contextually relevant. iTunes on windows, I swear, they deliberately put things in the wrong place, the thinking being that this will turn people off windows?

s3graham 16y ago

> iTunes works really on Windows... Please don't troll here, help keep the level of discussion high.

RossM 16y ago

>Their mobile API. This would be a great offering to iPhone devs. It would, but I would also expect to see Dropbox for Android decline quickly. It would be a great thing for Apple to acquire Dropbox, but it would also be a horrendous outcome for all non-Apple users.