5 ms·

Dropbox: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

by jfaat 8y ago

ssijak 8y ago
Always interesting to read comments about the product after 10 years and it`s success :)
Moodles 8y ago
The first comment on that thread is a typical funny HN comment: “if you’re a Linux user and do x, y, z and connect the flux capacitor to the warp drive you can emulate Dropbox no problem”
- entropy_ 8y ago
  True, though it's definitely nice to see how that discussion didn't descend into poo-flinging. The poster replied to the criticism and the critic conceded that it would indeed be useful, even for linux users :-)
  - Piezoid 8y ago
    Sadly, 10 years later, they didn't respond to criticism about removing support for non-ext4-yet-xattr-enabled filesystems.
    - jen729w 8y ago
      I’m leaving because of this. And I give them the ~$100/year for the pro plan. Screw ‘em. Also it really shits me that every time I log in I get a little banner that says “Almost out of space? Try Dropbox Business!”. One, no, I am not almost out of space. I’m at 15% and if you don’t know that, there’s something terribly wrong. Two, I’m not a business. I’m just me. And I already pay for Pro. Get out of my goddamned face. /rant
      - fastbeef 8y ago
        This is the most #firstworldproblems thing I’ve read in a long time.
      - stareatgoats 8y ago
        Not one to support rants normally but this irritates me too, especially when encountered in billion-dollar businesses (not only Dropbox). It's like they can't afford investing a part-time developer and a few extra db queries in customer experience and retention, which indicates that they are in it for the fast buck, right or wrong. This type of customer indifference should have a special, and tarnishing, name.
        52-6F-62 8y ago
        I think it’s more a problem with most companies of any size. It’s not the devs. The owners likely become sufficiently detached from the end product and experience and sales/marketing teams are left to squeeze every bit of fiscal value from the thing. That usually results in battles for new analytics or new features that usually look like background software/network bloat, and judging the client to increase their spend no matter what. Those teams always have to post higher numbers regardless of the market. Not that I disagree.
      - Piezoid 8y ago
        Paypal's post login page comes to mind. I want to see the dashboard after login, not a uninformative ad that probably took time and money to put there.
        edoceo 8y ago
        My PayPal was put on freeze a few weeks ago. When I called to get unlocked I was told the verification lock was put in place because perhaps (they couldnot say exactly) because I had started some Capital Loan process they have. Really, what had happened was I clicked that damned interstitial ad post-login. The forced ad, accidentally clicked, locked my account, had to spend an hour cleaning it up.
      - deleted 8y ago
  - nikk1 8y ago
    There is value in being able to ask hard questions without being condescending. It is a rare skill these days to be able to handle those questions with tact.
- blablabla123 8y ago
  I do exactly that since 3 years (git though without ftp), having almost stopped using Google Drive. Dropbox I don't use since 5 years or so ;)
  - mickael-kerjean 8y ago
    If you want a fancy web interface on top on Git, FTP, SFTP, S3, whatever backend, I built this: https://github.com/mickael-kerjean/nuage https://github.com/mickael-kerjean/nuage
    - blablabla123 8y ago
      I might check it out... Actually I'm test-driving Perkeep at the moment, it also supports various backends, replication.
- atmosphericnose 8y ago
  Some interesting context for this comment: "Congrats Dropbox" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16660140 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16660140 BrandonM: It's funny how often that comment—which I made as a 22-year-old undergrad—resurfaces. Someone even reached out to me 2 weeks ago because they wanted to use it in an article as an example of "the disconnect between the way users and engineers see software"! I like to think that I've gained a lot of perspective over the last 11 years; it's pretty clear to me that point #1 was short-sighted and exhibited a lot of tunnel vision. Looking back, though, I still think that thread was a reasonable exchange. My 2nd and 3rd points were fair, and I conceded much of point 1 to you after your reply (which was very high quality). Obviously, we have the benefit of hindsight now in seeing how well you were able to execute. Kudos on that! Congrats on your success! I wish you nothing but the best going forward! Zed Shaw's take on the matter. https://zedshaw.com/2018/03/25/the-billionaires-vs-brandonm/ https://zedshaw.com/2018/03/25/the-billionaires-vs-brandonm/
  - Moodles 8y ago
    Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I hope BrandonM isn't haunted by his comment or anything. It's not really a big deal right? Can't we just have a chuckle about it and move on? Besides, his comment was the top voted one (simultaneously my comment has a lot of upvotes too). We all get things wrong from time to time, especially at a young age. Big deal. He's probably been right a million times but nobody remembers those.
    - itronitron 8y ago
      Actually, that comment by BrandonM is occasionally referenced as a good example of how YC startups have an unhealthy advantage on the forum, as YC startups can have their posts deleted but regular users such as BrandonM can not, hence their comments live for an eternity (which in this case seems to be a good thing).
- anewone 8y ago
  Reminds me of: "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."
mulletbum 8y ago
I reference this when I talk about HackerNews in general. I remember reading this post back then. I remember them slowly growing huge. It's kind of funny to look back and think I knew about their project from the very beginning.

Dropbox: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

by jfaat 8y ago

Dropbox: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

ssijak 8y ago

Always interesting to read comments about the product after 10 years and it`s success :)

Moodles 8y ago

The first comment on that thread is a typical funny HN comment: “if you’re a Linux user and do x, y, z and connect the flux capacitor to the warp drive you can emulate Dropbox no problem”

entropy_ 8y ago
True, though it's definitely nice to see how that discussion didn't descend into poo-flinging. The poster replied to the criticism and the critic conceded that it would indeed be useful, even for linux users :-)
- Piezoid 8y ago
  Sadly, 10 years later, they didn't respond to criticism about removing support for non-ext4-yet-xattr-enabled filesystems.
  - jen729w 8y ago
    I’m leaving because of this. And I give them the ~$100/year for the pro plan. Screw ‘em. Also it really shits me that every time I log in I get a little banner that says “Almost out of space? Try Dropbox Business!”. One, no, I am not almost out of space. I’m at 15% and if you don’t know that, there’s something terribly wrong. Two, I’m not a business. I’m just me. And I already pay for Pro. Get out of my goddamned face. /rant
    - fastbeef 8y ago
      This is the most #firstworldproblems thing I’ve read in a long time.
    - stareatgoats 8y ago
      Not one to support rants normally but this irritates me too, especially when encountered in billion-dollar businesses (not only Dropbox). It's like they can't afford investing a part-time developer and a few extra db queries in customer experience and retention, which indicates that they are in it for the fast buck, right or wrong. This type of customer indifference should have a special, and tarnishing, name.
      - 52-6F-62 8y ago
        I think it’s more a problem with most companies of any size. It’s not the devs. The owners likely become sufficiently detached from the end product and experience and sales/marketing teams are left to squeeze every bit of fiscal value from the thing. That usually results in battles for new analytics or new features that usually look like background software/network bloat, and judging the client to increase their spend no matter what. Those teams always have to post higher numbers regardless of the market. Not that I disagree.
    - Piezoid 8y ago
      Paypal's post login page comes to mind. I want to see the dashboard after login, not a uninformative ad that probably took time and money to put there.
      - edoceo 8y ago
        My PayPal was put on freeze a few weeks ago. When I called to get unlocked I was told the verification lock was put in place because perhaps (they couldnot say exactly) because I had started some Capital Loan process they have. Really, what had happened was I clicked that damned interstitial ad post-login. The forced ad, accidentally clicked, locked my account, had to spend an hour cleaning it up.
    - deleted 8y ago
- nikk1 8y ago
  There is value in being able to ask hard questions without being condescending. It is a rare skill these days to be able to handle those questions with tact.
blablabla123 8y ago
I do exactly that since 3 years (git though without ftp), having almost stopped using Google Drive. Dropbox I don't use since 5 years or so ;)
- mickael-kerjean 8y ago
  If you want a fancy web interface on top on Git, FTP, SFTP, S3, whatever backend, I built this: https://github.com/mickael-kerjean/nuage https://github.com/mickael-kerjean/nuage
  - blablabla123 8y ago
    I might check it out... Actually I'm test-driving Perkeep at the moment, it also supports various backends, replication.
atmosphericnose 8y ago
Some interesting context for this comment: "Congrats Dropbox" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16660140 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16660140 BrandonM: It's funny how often that comment—which I made as a 22-year-old undergrad—resurfaces. Someone even reached out to me 2 weeks ago because they wanted to use it in an article as an example of "the disconnect between the way users and engineers see software"! I like to think that I've gained a lot of perspective over the last 11 years; it's pretty clear to me that point #1 was short-sighted and exhibited a lot of tunnel vision. Looking back, though, I still think that thread was a reasonable exchange. My 2nd and 3rd points were fair, and I conceded much of point 1 to you after your reply (which was very high quality). Obviously, we have the benefit of hindsight now in seeing how well you were able to execute. Kudos on that! Congrats on your success! I wish you nothing but the best going forward! Zed Shaw's take on the matter. https://zedshaw.com/2018/03/25/the-billionaires-vs-brandonm/ https://zedshaw.com/2018/03/25/the-billionaires-vs-brandonm/
- Moodles 8y ago
  Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I hope BrandonM isn't haunted by his comment or anything. It's not really a big deal right? Can't we just have a chuckle about it and move on? Besides, his comment was the top voted one (simultaneously my comment has a lot of upvotes too). We all get things wrong from time to time, especially at a young age. Big deal. He's probably been right a million times but nobody remembers those.
  - itronitron 8y ago
    Actually, that comment by BrandonM is occasionally referenced as a good example of how YC startups have an unhealthy advantage on the forum, as YC startups can have their posts deleted but regular users such as BrandonM can not, hence their comments live for an eternity (which in this case seems to be a good thing).
anewone 8y ago
Reminds me of: "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."

mulletbum 8y ago

I reference this when I talk about HackerNews in general. I remember reading this post back then. I remember them slowly growing huge. It's kind of funny to look back and think I knew about their project from the very beginning.