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I love Dropbox, but Jobs is right -- they are a feature, not a product. They will be relevant up to the point where operating systems simply makes their functi

I love Dropbox, but Jobs is right -- they are a feature, not a product. They will be relevant up to the point where operating systems simply makes their functionality a native element of their file system. At least Drew is wise to the fact that they could become an also-ran, so it's not like this will happen to them overnight.

chugger 15y ago
Wait for competition from Google, Facebook or Microsoft.
- paulsilver 15y ago
  Microsoft bought FolderShare a few years back, which let you share & sync directories across PCs and Macs across the internet - so like Dropbox but without their online backup. Unfortunately Microsoft turned it in to something that didn't work anywhere near as well. It might have been improved now, but my business partner and I moved across to Dropbox, which has been much better. Since then I've also received files from various people working on joint projects across Dropbox, within the web industry it appears to have become the standard for that. Getting something else that works well on one OS will be straightforward, especially for someone like Apple. Getting it to work well (and wanting it to) for multiple OSes and getting people on the other OSes to adopt it will be another matter. That's partly why Dropbox survived their security problems so well, it's become part of a lot of people's background workflow.
  - namityadav 15y ago
    Microsoft's competitor for Dropbox has been Live Mesh for quite some time now. And unlike FolderShare, it does do online backups. Unfortunately, many of us need solutions that work on multiple platforms (your macbook, windows desktop, iPhone etc). Unlike Dropbox, Live Mesh doesn't even come close to serving that need.
- sambeau 15y ago
  I kind of agree. Although Microsoft and Google have tried this sort of thing before (and a long time ago if we include WebDAV & Web folders) there is nothing quite like a successful product that gets it right and takes over to light a rocket underneath the bigger companies. If iCloud takes off most Apple users won't look at Dropbox. Those of us already using it may find we use it less and if they then add a simple, cross-platform way to share files & folders we may just move on completely. There's a lot of ifs there, but I believe that iCloud will at the least hamper Dropbox's move into the mainstream.
brlewis 15y ago
Operating systems we run Dropbox on at my house: Ubuntu, OSX, iOS, Windows, Blackberry 5. Someday they may all have Dropbox-like functionality built in, and someday after that they may interoperate. Dropbox can stay in their current business a long time regardless.
- flipbrad 15y ago
  Given Ubuntu already has that functionality built in (Ubuntu One), and offers Win, Android and iOS 3.1+ clients, we're really not so far off from that being the case already.
  - justinhj 15y ago
    So what it has over Dropbox is the lack of Mac OS X? I haven't used Ubuntu One since I tried it pretty early on, and it was nowhere near as easy to use and convenient as Dropbox.
  - demetris 15y ago
    Ubuntu One cannot be compared to Dropbox, at least not yet: It does not support OSX and it does not support other Linux operating systems either, not even its daddy Debian. I run Windows and Debian on my desktops and laptop and I recently decided to try Ubuntu One. I could find no mention of other Linux OSes on the Ubuntu One page, and a quick web search returned nothing encouraging. I was surprised by this. The impression I got is that Ubuntu One is just for people whose main OS is Ubuntu and who may have to also use Windows from time to time.
- codemechanic 15y ago
  Dropbox also faces competition from products like TonidoSync (http://www.tonido.com/app_sync_home.html http://www.tonido.com/app_sync_home.html) that allows you to use your own hardware as sync server. Before anybody jumps on me- Yes. Tonido does support all the OSes- Windows, Mac and Linux. They have mobile apps for all the popular mobile platforms - iOS, Android, Win 7 and Blackberry. It also works on ARM powered NAS devices and supports webdav as well. In short, one can use their mac mini or home pc as sync server or buy one of those plug devices (http://www.tonidoplug.com http://www.tonidoplug.com) that runs 24/7 consuming just 1 watt/hr.
cube13 15y ago
>They will be relevant up to the point where operating systems simply makes their functionality a native element of their file system. At which point, they become a service. This is admittedly a wide-eyed optimist ideal, but I would picture most OS' adding basically a "Cloud storage" drive option that allows the user to mount any cloud storage service like a physical hard drive. The "driver" would be the interface protocol between the service and the user, and it would allow the various OS' to use the cloud storage as an additional, fully functional drive. It probably won't happen until the next round of antitrust hearings against everyone(Apple, MS, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.), though...
daniel-cussen 15y ago
It's a pretty big feature, I'd say. Anybody who was a mac user before 2000 can tell you how painful it was to use a mac when your friends or coworkers had windows. It was horrible. Problems with file sharing between systems created huge network effects for microsoft. It killed the possibility of having a mac for a lot of people. The fundamental problem of compatibility requires not only technological and architectural commitment but also willingness to cooperate with competitors for the sake of the user.
- jroseattle 15y ago
  Certainly a big feature, although as platform/os providers integrate similar functionality, that differentiation point for Dropbox will begin to diminish. But you're spot on with varying OSes being willing to cooperate to allow multiple clients access to shared data stores. Google, Apple, Microsoft and open source all in agreement on file sharing? Right..... Surely the latest Dropbox investors considered that, and gauged the probability of harmony among the OS providers for the sake of the user. And since Dropbox just closed $250MM in financing, they obviously believe their chances are pretty good. :-)
  - VladRussian 15y ago
    harmony across OS providers will never happen and isn't necessary here. The cross OS file sharing has been solved many years ago and most successfully by 3rd party independent tools like samba(intranet) or cvs/rsync(internet) and with HTTP based tools on the horizon (webdav is a good starting point). If my understanding correct, Dropbox is just extremely consumer friendly implementation of something like rsync. The main danger to them isn't OS providers, it is another Dropbox, more user friendly, agile, convenient, cheaper, faster ... while the original Dropbox grows and starts having cost structure and screwing up like a large company.

chugger 15y ago

Wait for competition from Google, Facebook or Microsoft.

paulsilver 15y ago
Microsoft bought FolderShare a few years back, which let you share & sync directories across PCs and Macs across the internet - so like Dropbox but without their online backup. Unfortunately Microsoft turned it in to something that didn't work anywhere near as well. It might have been improved now, but my business partner and I moved across to Dropbox, which has been much better. Since then I've also received files from various people working on joint projects across Dropbox, within the web industry it appears to have become the standard for that. Getting something else that works well on one OS will be straightforward, especially for someone like Apple. Getting it to work well (and wanting it to) for multiple OSes and getting people on the other OSes to adopt it will be another matter. That's partly why Dropbox survived their security problems so well, it's become part of a lot of people's background workflow.
- namityadav 15y ago
  Microsoft's competitor for Dropbox has been Live Mesh for quite some time now. And unlike FolderShare, it does do online backups. Unfortunately, many of us need solutions that work on multiple platforms (your macbook, windows desktop, iPhone etc). Unlike Dropbox, Live Mesh doesn't even come close to serving that need.
sambeau 15y ago
I kind of agree. Although Microsoft and Google have tried this sort of thing before (and a long time ago if we include WebDAV & Web folders) there is nothing quite like a successful product that gets it right and takes over to light a rocket underneath the bigger companies. If iCloud takes off most Apple users won't look at Dropbox. Those of us already using it may find we use it less and if they then add a simple, cross-platform way to share files & folders we may just move on completely. There's a lot of ifs there, but I believe that iCloud will at the least hamper Dropbox's move into the mainstream.

brlewis 15y ago

Operating systems we run Dropbox on at my house: Ubuntu, OSX, iOS, Windows, Blackberry 5. Someday they may all have Dropbox-like functionality built in, and someday after that they may interoperate. Dropbox can stay in their current business a long time regardless.

flipbrad 15y ago
Given Ubuntu already has that functionality built in (Ubuntu One), and offers Win, Android and iOS 3.1+ clients, we're really not so far off from that being the case already.
- justinhj 15y ago
  So what it has over Dropbox is the lack of Mac OS X? I haven't used Ubuntu One since I tried it pretty early on, and it was nowhere near as easy to use and convenient as Dropbox.
- demetris 15y ago
  Ubuntu One cannot be compared to Dropbox, at least not yet: It does not support OSX and it does not support other Linux operating systems either, not even its daddy Debian. I run Windows and Debian on my desktops and laptop and I recently decided to try Ubuntu One. I could find no mention of other Linux OSes on the Ubuntu One page, and a quick web search returned nothing encouraging. I was surprised by this. The impression I got is that Ubuntu One is just for people whose main OS is Ubuntu and who may have to also use Windows from time to time.
codemechanic 15y ago
Dropbox also faces competition from products like TonidoSync (http://www.tonido.com/app_sync_home.html http://www.tonido.com/app_sync_home.html) that allows you to use your own hardware as sync server. Before anybody jumps on me- Yes. Tonido does support all the OSes- Windows, Mac and Linux. They have mobile apps for all the popular mobile platforms - iOS, Android, Win 7 and Blackberry. It also works on ARM powered NAS devices and supports webdav as well. In short, one can use their mac mini or home pc as sync server or buy one of those plug devices (http://www.tonidoplug.com http://www.tonidoplug.com) that runs 24/7 consuming just 1 watt/hr.

cube13 15y ago

>They will be relevant up to the point where operating systems simply makes their functionality a native element of their file system. At which point, they become a service. This is admittedly a wide-eyed optimist ideal, but I would picture most OS' adding basically a "Cloud storage" drive option that allows the user to mount any cloud storage service like a physical hard drive. The "driver" would be the interface protocol between the service and the user, and it would allow the various OS' to use the cloud storage as an additional, fully functional drive. It probably won't happen until the next round of antitrust hearings against everyone(Apple, MS, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.), though...

daniel-cussen 15y ago

It's a pretty big feature, I'd say. Anybody who was a mac user before 2000 can tell you how painful it was to use a mac when your friends or coworkers had windows. It was horrible. Problems with file sharing between systems created huge network effects for microsoft. It killed the possibility of having a mac for a lot of people. The fundamental problem of compatibility requires not only technological and architectural commitment but also willingness to cooperate with competitors for the sake of the user.

jroseattle 15y ago
Certainly a big feature, although as platform/os providers integrate similar functionality, that differentiation point for Dropbox will begin to diminish. But you're spot on with varying OSes being willing to cooperate to allow multiple clients access to shared data stores. Google, Apple, Microsoft and open source all in agreement on file sharing? Right..... Surely the latest Dropbox investors considered that, and gauged the probability of harmony among the OS providers for the sake of the user. And since Dropbox just closed $250MM in financing, they obviously believe their chances are pretty good. :-)
- VladRussian 15y ago
  harmony across OS providers will never happen and isn't necessary here. The cross OS file sharing has been solved many years ago and most successfully by 3rd party independent tools like samba(intranet) or cvs/rsync(internet) and with HTTP based tools on the horizon (webdav is a good starting point). If my understanding correct, Dropbox is just extremely consumer friendly implementation of something like rsync. The main danger to them isn't OS providers, it is another Dropbox, more user friendly, agile, convenient, cheaper, faster ... while the original Dropbox grows and starts having cost structure and screwing up like a large company.