5 ms·

Shouldn't dropbox be a little nervous?

by MatthewB 15y ago

tobylane 15y ago
Only when the windows client comes. I hope it's portable, with SSL.
- bergie 15y ago
  Unlikely, much of Apple's current strategy seems to be in lock-in.
  - xh4n 15y ago
    It seems developers can use APIs in both Mac and Pc. I see no reason why there will not be a third party client for iClouds in Windows.
    - bergie 15y ago
      I'll believe it when I see it. Just like there aren't any 3rd-party FaceTime clients, and I guess there won't be any iMessage clients either. Currently all major players are competing on who manages to build the most closed ecosystem. I hope this is a phase that will pass.
- timdorr 15y ago
  They showed a Windows computer with pictures from iCloud during the keynote.
tptacek 15y ago
Meh? Large scale storage on Internet servers has been around since the '90s. Dropbox is important because of the user experience, which iCloud doesn't really address. You think the Windows client for iCloud is going to be as seamless as Dropbox? I bet the difference is so big my mom can articulate it. Rdio, on the other hand, just got smote.
- galactus 15y ago
  The difference might be big for current users of dropbox, but iCloud could make it harder to convince new icloud users to give dropbox a try.
- nicksergeant 15y ago
  Rdio did not just get "smote", IMO. Without streaming, my desire to use iTunes matching or iCloud for music in general is lacking. Streaming is where it's at, for me.
- cjoh 15y ago
  Not sure if Rdio's been smoted. I mean, I can get any song I want at any time on any device with rdio for a low monthly price. iTunes is still charging me to own songs, and my selection is still bound by the storage capacity of my device. RDio is still a much better option than iTunes, Google Music or the Amazon music locker, IMO.
  - tptacek 15y ago
    Rdio is still a great deal if you're the kind of person who listens to Yeasayer or Joan As Police Woman. It is no longer as good a deal for the kind of person who listens to Fleetwood Mac and Lady Gaga. The problem is, there are way more of the latter than the former. More importantly, Rdio already had a lot of noise it had to spend money to cut through. What happens to their cost of customer acquisition after iCloud and iTunes Match?
    - cjoh 15y ago
      I just don't see how they're remotely close to the same thing. But opinions are opinions -- Rdio combines the ease of discovery of a service like Pandora with the selection of a decent music store. And that it can locally cache songs on a device means, well, why would I ever buy songs on iTunes again. Granted, I have terrible taste in music (TERRIBLE), and maybe somebody who is a bit more sophisticated will have a better experience with iTunes. For me though, Rdio answers the desire: I can listen to any song I want wherever I want whenever I want, with one flat monthly fee. iTunes can't do that. With iTunes, I can listen to a song I want, between 5-20 minutes from now, unless I've purchased it already. And synced it. Cloud or computer, what's dumb about apple's solution is that as far as I know, they haven't taken the sync out of the equation. You're just syncing with the cloud rather than your computer.
Pewpewarrows 15y ago
A service that syncs any file you want across basically every platform imaginable, compared to a service for just iOS that syncs a subset of files and data from a handful of apps? I wouldn't be worried at all.
- ignifero 15y ago
  What if there is a windows client in the works, or itunes integration? I think Dropbox should really be worried here ...
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
    - ignifero 15y ago
      The same way they make money from itunes on windows. I own an iphone and an iPad , but i use windows and linux. Shouldn't i have access to my data and sync?
  - drivebyacct2 15y ago
    iTunes integration? I'd rather light myself on fire than have some other reason I'm forced to waste 2GB of memory for an Apple product.
- sambeau 15y ago
  It works on Windows and has a windows API. For instance Photo Stream uses "My Pictures" folder.
  - sambeau 15y ago
    Weird. I've never had a double post before.
- sambeau 15y ago
  It works on Windows and has a windows API. For instance Photo Stream uses "My Pictures" folder.
gamble 15y ago
Dropbox is designed to make your filesystem available on any device. iCloud is designed to make the filesystem invisible. iCloud might win in the long term, but for now they address fundamentally different problems.
timdorr 15y ago
iCloud doesn't allow me to share files between people. (I have to resort to emailing them. Yuck.) I also can't share folders of documents relating to a particular project. As a web designer, I might have a PSD for the design, some Word docs for the copy, a PDF of some flyer I have to convert to a web page, and a Keynote presentation to pitch a particular feature to management. With iCloud, I can't view these documents as one collective project. Files are stored per application, not per project. Dropbox does all of this today, without the need for my applications to be updated or me to rethink how I store files. I think they're going to be just fine.
kongqiu 15y ago
The caveats actually make me happy that Dropbox is out there, not locked in to any particular device. That said, if this were to force Dropbox to drop their prices, I wouldn't be unhappy...

Shouldn't dropbox be a little nervous?

tobylane 15y ago

Only when the windows client comes. I hope it's portable, with SSL.

bergie 15y ago
Unlikely, much of Apple's current strategy seems to be in lock-in.
- xh4n 15y ago
  It seems developers can use APIs in both Mac and Pc. I see no reason why there will not be a third party client for iClouds in Windows.
  - bergie 15y ago
    I'll believe it when I see it. Just like there aren't any 3rd-party FaceTime clients, and I guess there won't be any iMessage clients either. Currently all major players are competing on who manages to build the most closed ecosystem. I hope this is a phase that will pass.
timdorr 15y ago
They showed a Windows computer with pictures from iCloud during the keynote.

tptacek 15y ago

Meh? Large scale storage on Internet servers has been around since the '90s. Dropbox is important because of the user experience, which iCloud doesn't really address. You think the Windows client for iCloud is going to be as seamless as Dropbox? I bet the difference is so big my mom can articulate it. Rdio, on the other hand, just got smote.

galactus 15y ago
The difference might be big for current users of dropbox, but iCloud could make it harder to convince new icloud users to give dropbox a try.
nicksergeant 15y ago
Rdio did not just get "smote", IMO. Without streaming, my desire to use iTunes matching or iCloud for music in general is lacking. Streaming is where it's at, for me.
cjoh 15y ago
Not sure if Rdio's been smoted. I mean, I can get any song I want at any time on any device with rdio for a low monthly price. iTunes is still charging me to own songs, and my selection is still bound by the storage capacity of my device. RDio is still a much better option than iTunes, Google Music or the Amazon music locker, IMO.
- tptacek 15y ago
  Rdio is still a great deal if you're the kind of person who listens to Yeasayer or Joan As Police Woman. It is no longer as good a deal for the kind of person who listens to Fleetwood Mac and Lady Gaga. The problem is, there are way more of the latter than the former. More importantly, Rdio already had a lot of noise it had to spend money to cut through. What happens to their cost of customer acquisition after iCloud and iTunes Match?
  - cjoh 15y ago
    I just don't see how they're remotely close to the same thing. But opinions are opinions -- Rdio combines the ease of discovery of a service like Pandora with the selection of a decent music store. And that it can locally cache songs on a device means, well, why would I ever buy songs on iTunes again. Granted, I have terrible taste in music (TERRIBLE), and maybe somebody who is a bit more sophisticated will have a better experience with iTunes. For me though, Rdio answers the desire: I can listen to any song I want wherever I want whenever I want, with one flat monthly fee. iTunes can't do that. With iTunes, I can listen to a song I want, between 5-20 minutes from now, unless I've purchased it already. And synced it. Cloud or computer, what's dumb about apple's solution is that as far as I know, they haven't taken the sync out of the equation. You're just syncing with the cloud rather than your computer.

Pewpewarrows 15y ago

A service that syncs any file you want across basically every platform imaginable, compared to a service for just iOS that syncs a subset of files and data from a handful of apps? I wouldn't be worried at all.

ignifero 15y ago
What if there is a windows client in the works, or itunes integration? I think Dropbox should really be worried here ...
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
  - ignifero 15y ago
    The same way they make money from itunes on windows. I own an iphone and an iPad , but i use windows and linux. Shouldn't i have access to my data and sync?
- drivebyacct2 15y ago
  iTunes integration? I'd rather light myself on fire than have some other reason I'm forced to waste 2GB of memory for an Apple product.
sambeau 15y ago
It works on Windows and has a windows API. For instance Photo Stream uses "My Pictures" folder.
- sambeau 15y ago
  Weird. I've never had a double post before.
sambeau 15y ago
It works on Windows and has a windows API. For instance Photo Stream uses "My Pictures" folder.

gamble 15y ago

Dropbox is designed to make your filesystem available on any device. iCloud is designed to make the filesystem invisible. iCloud might win in the long term, but for now they address fundamentally different problems.

timdorr 15y ago

iCloud doesn't allow me to share files between people. (I have to resort to emailing them. Yuck.) I also can't share folders of documents relating to a particular project. As a web designer, I might have a PSD for the design, some Word docs for the copy, a PDF of some flyer I have to convert to a web page, and a Keynote presentation to pitch a particular feature to management. With iCloud, I can't view these documents as one collective project. Files are stored per application, not per project. Dropbox does all of this today, without the need for my applications to be updated or me to rethink how I store files. I think they're going to be just fine.

kongqiu 15y ago

The caveats actually make me happy that Dropbox is out there, not locked in to any particular device. That said, if this were to force Dropbox to drop their prices, I wouldn't be unhappy...