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I don't understand the Dropbox negativity on HN. I've used it since 2010 and it has provided me with incredible value. I used to have free service for documents

I don't understand the Dropbox negativity on HN. I've used it since 2010 and it has provided me with incredible value. I used to have free service for documents but my library of data grew larger. I signed up for their $10/month program without a hitch and have been a paying user for years. You get a terabyte of space. I got rid of NAS backups and I have selective sync enabled on folders that I need synced. Large files remain in the cloud. There are a few things that I think are worth paying for. Dropbox delivers every day, every hour with no worries of backups. In terms of limiting devices, remember when iTunes introduced 5 authorized devices? Spotify Free has ads all over. Dropbox's business model is to convert free paying users by exemplifying the value that they provide without excessive nags, ads or annoyances.

arkitaip 8y ago
HN has always had a problem with Dropbox. Check out the very first post announcing Dropbox for evidence of the negativity that the product received: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863
- astrodust 8y ago
  Dig deep enough and HN has a problem with everything. DNA? Over-rated hack. Oxygen? Dangerous.
redm 8y ago
The problem is when Dropbox takes previously available features or capabilities and reduces them to drive subscriptions INSTEAD of adding new value.
- spectramax 8y ago
  It is disappointing to see how users these days have gotten used to the "Free" model and feel entitled for a free service on the internet. I recall when GMail launched with 1 GB free data. That was HUGE and everyone switched from Hotmail and Yahoo mail to GMail. Little did an average user know and still doesn't know that Google is an advertisement company. You are the product. Users have no right to complain about lack of features in a free service which doesn't serve ads, doesn't sell your data or have any other business model other than upsell you their product. I'll be the first one to quit using Dropbox if they get into advertisement business.
  - bachmeier 8y ago
    "It is disappointing to see how users these days have gotten used to the "Free" model and feel entitled for a free service on the internet." A price of $0 is just that - a price the company chose. The company could have chosen $10 or $100, but they didn't, because they thought $0 would help to maximize their profit. There is nothing at all special about a price of $0. It's not a gift. It's an alternative to running Super Bowl commercials.
gutnor 8y ago
There has been several things: • Dropbox has failed to improve their offering and even for a paying customer you do not get anything more for your money today than you were getting several years ago. That is not objectively a bad thing, I mean a spoon has hardly evolved in hundred of years and is still worth every penny. But this is HN and that's a bit of a sin around here. • In search of profitability Dropbox has used several dark marketting patterns. Its website also pushes way too much business/team option that are per user/per month. A lof of people on HN are private user and they basically have access to a single option. • The new features that Dropbox did introduce work only for corporate/team user. There is now a Professional user but it costs a standard business plan for 2 users with less feature. • There was some complain about the Mac OS client uses of apis. Despite the negativity, HN users seems major paying users. So I think rather than negativity it is more disappointment. The feeling that Dropbox could have been so much more and they would have paid for it gladly, but it is instead becoming a network feature for large companies and startup.
- spectramax 8y ago
  I think you could say the same thing about GMail. It looks and works the same way as it did 15 years ago. At times, less is more and feature creep ends up being like Microsoft Outlook - bloated, slow and frustrating to use. I don't love my set of spoons like I love Dropbox, Digital Ocean, Eames Lounge Chair, Sublime Text/Merge and Teenage Engineering synthesizers. There are a handful of companies that give you immense pleasure in using their products daily.
  - ymolodtsov 8y ago
    Gmail changed a lot and its new design is just great although some people might disagree with me. It’s also free.
sdinsn 8y ago
How often do you use Dropbox when you are not connected to your network? It would be much cheaper to buy a 1TB HDD and host it on your LAN.
Spooky23 8y ago
I was a Dropbox subscriber for years. Paying double compared to other providers to get bombarded with upsell and not have basic features like full text search.
panda888888 8y ago
My concerns about Dropbox have always been related to security, not features or price.
Grue3 8y ago
>without excessive nags, ads or annoyances. I have slightly less data than the free limit and I'm getting a popup urging me to switch to the paid version almost constantly. I don't even bother to close it anymore, so it just sits there in the corner blocking a part of my screen.

arkitaip 8y ago

HN has always had a problem with Dropbox. Check out the very first post announcing Dropbox for evidence of the negativity that the product received: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863

astrodust 8y ago
Dig deep enough and HN has a problem with everything. DNA? Over-rated hack. Oxygen? Dangerous.

redm 8y ago

The problem is when Dropbox takes previously available features or capabilities and reduces them to drive subscriptions INSTEAD of adding new value.

spectramax 8y ago
It is disappointing to see how users these days have gotten used to the "Free" model and feel entitled for a free service on the internet. I recall when GMail launched with 1 GB free data. That was HUGE and everyone switched from Hotmail and Yahoo mail to GMail. Little did an average user know and still doesn't know that Google is an advertisement company. You are the product. Users have no right to complain about lack of features in a free service which doesn't serve ads, doesn't sell your data or have any other business model other than upsell you their product. I'll be the first one to quit using Dropbox if they get into advertisement business.
- bachmeier 8y ago
  "It is disappointing to see how users these days have gotten used to the "Free" model and feel entitled for a free service on the internet." A price of $0 is just that - a price the company chose. The company could have chosen $10 or $100, but they didn't, because they thought $0 would help to maximize their profit. There is nothing at all special about a price of $0. It's not a gift. It's an alternative to running Super Bowl commercials.

gutnor 8y ago

There has been several things: • Dropbox has failed to improve their offering and even for a paying customer you do not get anything more for your money today than you were getting several years ago. That is not objectively a bad thing, I mean a spoon has hardly evolved in hundred of years and is still worth every penny. But this is HN and that's a bit of a sin around here. • In search of profitability Dropbox has used several dark marketting patterns. Its website also pushes way too much business/team option that are per user/per month. A lof of people on HN are private user and they basically have access to a single option. • The new features that Dropbox did introduce work only for corporate/team user. There is now a Professional user but it costs a standard business plan for 2 users with less feature. • There was some complain about the Mac OS client uses of apis. Despite the negativity, HN users seems major paying users. So I think rather than negativity it is more disappointment. The feeling that Dropbox could have been so much more and they would have paid for it gladly, but it is instead becoming a network feature for large companies and startup.

spectramax 8y ago
I think you could say the same thing about GMail. It looks and works the same way as it did 15 years ago. At times, less is more and feature creep ends up being like Microsoft Outlook - bloated, slow and frustrating to use. I don't love my set of spoons like I love Dropbox, Digital Ocean, Eames Lounge Chair, Sublime Text/Merge and Teenage Engineering synthesizers. There are a handful of companies that give you immense pleasure in using their products daily.
- ymolodtsov 8y ago
  Gmail changed a lot and its new design is just great although some people might disagree with me. It’s also free.

sdinsn 8y ago

How often do you use Dropbox when you are not connected to your network? It would be much cheaper to buy a 1TB HDD and host it on your LAN.

Spooky23 8y ago

I was a Dropbox subscriber for years. Paying double compared to other providers to get bombarded with upsell and not have basic features like full text search.

panda888888 8y ago

My concerns about Dropbox have always been related to security, not features or price.

Grue3 8y ago

>without excessive nags, ads or annoyances. I have slightly less data than the free limit and I'm getting a popup urging me to switch to the paid version almost constantly. I don't even bother to close it anymore, so it just sits there in the corner blocking a part of my screen.