4 ms·

Is Dropbox dead?

jeffbee 6y ago
I had to check. Share price performance tracks Google pretty closely, YTD at least. https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/DBX#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 https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/DBX#eyJpbnRlcnZhbCI6ImRheSIs...
johnchristopher 6y ago
I was surprised to learn that https://www.engadget.com/dropbox-records-first-profit-ever-135846388.html https://www.engadget.com/dropbox-records-first-profit-ever-1... it's the first year Dropbox is profitable since going public.
- pessimizer 6y ago
  I find it funny that Dropbox is used as the example of HN nerds saying how they couldn't understand how something was a business because there are so many easy ways to implement it. If it never made money, it wasn't a business.
  - Polylactic_acid 6y ago
    The original thread was shitting on the idea of an online storage solution. The idea was good, its just every other tech company jumped on the same boat and crushed drop box.
    - BrandonM 6y ago
      Was it? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
      - Polylactic_acid 6y ago
        Yes. Stating that the product was useless due to FTP+SVN/USB drives was incorrect. The idea was a huge success. Dropbox just wasn't the one that got the reward.
        BrandonM 6y ago
        My comment didn't say that the product was useless, and it certainly didn't shit on the idea of an online storage solution. In that thread, I was saying that I already had an online storage solution, and it was working pretty well for me. When I said the notorious "quite trivially" phrase, I was in fact predicting that it would be easy for every other tech company to jump on the same boat. Regarding USBs, Dropbox's messaging at the time was "throw out your USB drives", and this was before smartphones or ubiquitous dependable network connections. At the time, if I had to give a presentation in a university classroom, Dropbox wasn't moving the bar much on that particular problem.
jdeibele 6y ago
No, but they keep trying to do things with accessibility on my Mac to give them access that Apple doesn't think they should have. Their price on 2TB for $9.99/month is competitive with Apple but we have 4 Macs, 5 iPads, and 5 iPhones. Much easier to have the Apple devices backing up to iCloud. I did look at their Plus/Professional/Team offerings https://www.dropbox.com/plans https://www.dropbox.com/plans and they do look useful for a lot of business cases. By the way, they cut the number of devices that could access an account from unlimited to 3 on the free account. Fair enough but I was somebody who earned extra gigabytes in 250MB chunks for every person I referred to them.
- Mandatum 6y ago
  That's an OS upgrade thing. They didn't request enough access originally and after upgrades had to ask for more. As annoying as those access restriction requests are, they're probably the best implementation I've seen that is clear enough for the average user to accept and still understand what they're doing.

Is Dropbox dead?

I had to check. Share price performance tracks Google pretty closely, YTD at least. https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/DBX#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 https://finance.yahoo.com/chart/DBX#eyJpbnRlcnZhbCI6ImRheSIs...

johnchristopher 6y ago

I was surprised to learn that https://www.engadget.com/dropbox-records-first-profit-ever-135846388.html https://www.engadget.com/dropbox-records-first-profit-ever-1... it's the first year Dropbox is profitable since going public.

pessimizer 6y ago
I find it funny that Dropbox is used as the example of HN nerds saying how they couldn't understand how something was a business because there are so many easy ways to implement it. If it never made money, it wasn't a business.
- Polylactic_acid 6y ago
  The original thread was shitting on the idea of an online storage solution. The idea was good, its just every other tech company jumped on the same boat and crushed drop box.
  - BrandonM 6y ago
    Was it? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
    - Polylactic_acid 6y ago
      Yes. Stating that the product was useless due to FTP+SVN/USB drives was incorrect. The idea was a huge success. Dropbox just wasn't the one that got the reward.
      - BrandonM 6y ago
        My comment didn't say that the product was useless, and it certainly didn't shit on the idea of an online storage solution. In that thread, I was saying that I already had an online storage solution, and it was working pretty well for me. When I said the notorious "quite trivially" phrase, I was in fact predicting that it would be easy for every other tech company to jump on the same boat. Regarding USBs, Dropbox's messaging at the time was "throw out your USB drives", and this was before smartphones or ubiquitous dependable network connections. At the time, if I had to give a presentation in a university classroom, Dropbox wasn't moving the bar much on that particular problem.

jdeibele 6y ago

No, but they keep trying to do things with accessibility on my Mac to give them access that Apple doesn't think they should have. Their price on 2TB for $9.99/month is competitive with Apple but we have 4 Macs, 5 iPads, and 5 iPhones. Much easier to have the Apple devices backing up to iCloud. I did look at their Plus/Professional/Team offerings https://www.dropbox.com/plans https://www.dropbox.com/plans and they do look useful for a lot of business cases. By the way, they cut the number of devices that could access an account from unlimited to 3 on the free account. Fair enough but I was somebody who earned extra gigabytes in 250MB chunks for every person I referred to them.

Mandatum 6y ago
That's an OS upgrade thing. They didn't request enough access originally and after upgrades had to ask for more. As annoying as those access restriction requests are, they're probably the best implementation I've seen that is clear enough for the average user to accept and still understand what they're doing.