5 ms·

This is one hundred percent a personal opinion, but I suspect its one that I'm not alone in. I use iCloud and Dropbox, I don't even really see how they're comp

by gburt 15y ago

This is one hundred percent a personal opinion, but I suspect its one that I'm not alone in. I use iCloud and Dropbox, I don't even really see how they're competitors from my perspective. iCloud does things like sync my iCal calendars and Safari bookmarks, and Dropbox allows me to maintain a shared filesystem between all my computers. Dropbox is a form of free form backup/sharing, while iCloud is just a convenient way to keep defined, structured data together for me.

gburt 15y ago
I've also never had Airdrop work properly. Back To My Mac is finicky as well, and there's insufficient transparency in how it works for me to figure out exactly what I'm doing wrong.
- Zirro 15y ago
  Could you describe where things went wrong with Airdrop? I haven't found much use of it either, but it did work between mine and two of my classmates computers without any issues.
  - gburt 15y ago
    Computers just don't show up, despite, as far as I can tell, being properly configured for it. It's probably a network settings thing (as I believe it is with BTMM). I've only used it on my local LAN though.
    - Zirro 15y ago
      I think it's only meant to be wireless. Also, it requires both computers to have the "Airdrop"-section in Finder open at the same time. And finally, it only works with Macs manufactured from some point in 2009, due to the specific hardware it requires. Would any of these possibly be the cause of the issue?
    - Hoff 15y ago
      AirDrop is a Mac-to-Mac connection, and works only between specific and supported WiFi-connected Mac systems. The connection is directly between Mac systems, and not via WiFi router nor AP. Older WiFi devices don't support the necessary transfer mode. Read the summary and features here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4783 If you want to venture off the trail: http://www.macworld.com/article/162407/2011/09/airdrop_any_mac.html
herval 15y ago
If/when apple exposes an "iCloud folder", then it'll be competing directly with Dropbox. It's currently not a competitor, just a potential one. Although it'll be a Mac-iOS only solution anyway, not catering to a huge portion of the "real world" - linux & win users.
- gburt 15y ago
  Yeah, that's true. For me, without cross-platform support (and a website) I still wouldn't be able to use it: my Dropbox syncs with 2 Ubuntu machines, 2 Macs and a Windows laptop, and I simultaneously use it to access files on my university's lab (Windows) computers via the website.
DavidSJ 15y ago
Apple is trying to build a post-filesystem world. When was the last time you thought about file paths, or even folders, on an iOS device? Data is presented to users with a structure determined by the application. Apple's goal is not to compete with Dropbox directly; it is to make Dropbox irrelevant.
- jiggy2011 15y ago
  It's going to be difficult to make dropbox irrelevant without reasonable cross platform support. If I have all my data in "the cloud" but it can't be accessed without using a device from particular manufacturer I have to be pretty sure that myself or anybody else I want to share data with will never use a device from another manufacturer.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- jseliger 15y ago
  Apple is trying to build a post-filesystem world. When was the last time you thought about file paths, or even folders, on an iOS device? Whenever I've wanted to move data from one app to another—like when I want to transfer a word from a note or txt to a dictionary, or when I'd like to move a picture.
- bonch 15y ago
  I think the filesystem is one of the last great barriers for non-technical people when it comes to computers. There are people who still can't find files, send attachments by email, or understand the concept of the desktop behind all their windows.
chaz 15y ago
I think we'll see more and more apps have Dropbox integration. For example, Day One is an iPhone/iPad/Mac journal app that can use Dropbox to sync journal files across all of your devices. Sparrow is a Mac email client that can upload photos into your Dropbox's public folder for your attachments and embeds a Dropbox URL, instead of actually attaching it to the email.

by gburt 15y ago

gburt 15y ago

I've also never had Airdrop work properly. Back To My Mac is finicky as well, and there's insufficient transparency in how it works for me to figure out exactly what I'm doing wrong.

Zirro 15y ago
Could you describe where things went wrong with Airdrop? I haven't found much use of it either, but it did work between mine and two of my classmates computers without any issues.
- gburt 15y ago
  Computers just don't show up, despite, as far as I can tell, being properly configured for it. It's probably a network settings thing (as I believe it is with BTMM). I've only used it on my local LAN though.
  - Zirro 15y ago
    I think it's only meant to be wireless. Also, it requires both computers to have the "Airdrop"-section in Finder open at the same time. And finally, it only works with Macs manufactured from some point in 2009, due to the specific hardware it requires. Would any of these possibly be the cause of the issue?
  - Hoff 15y ago
    AirDrop is a Mac-to-Mac connection, and works only between specific and supported WiFi-connected Mac systems. The connection is directly between Mac systems, and not via WiFi router nor AP. Older WiFi devices don't support the necessary transfer mode. Read the summary and features here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4783 If you want to venture off the trail: http://www.macworld.com/article/162407/2011/09/airdrop_any_mac.html

herval 15y ago

If/when apple exposes an "iCloud folder", then it'll be competing directly with Dropbox. It's currently not a competitor, just a potential one. Although it'll be a Mac-iOS only solution anyway, not catering to a huge portion of the "real world" - linux & win users.

gburt 15y ago
Yeah, that's true. For me, without cross-platform support (and a website) I still wouldn't be able to use it: my Dropbox syncs with 2 Ubuntu machines, 2 Macs and a Windows laptop, and I simultaneously use it to access files on my university's lab (Windows) computers via the website.

DavidSJ 15y ago

Apple is trying to build a post-filesystem world. When was the last time you thought about file paths, or even folders, on an iOS device? Data is presented to users with a structure determined by the application. Apple's goal is not to compete with Dropbox directly; it is to make Dropbox irrelevant.

jiggy2011 15y ago
It's going to be difficult to make dropbox irrelevant without reasonable cross platform support. If I have all my data in "the cloud" but it can't be accessed without using a device from particular manufacturer I have to be pretty sure that myself or anybody else I want to share data with will never use a device from another manufacturer.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
jseliger 15y ago
Apple is trying to build a post-filesystem world. When was the last time you thought about file paths, or even folders, on an iOS device? Whenever I've wanted to move data from one app to another—like when I want to transfer a word from a note or txt to a dictionary, or when I'd like to move a picture.
bonch 15y ago
I think the filesystem is one of the last great barriers for non-technical people when it comes to computers. There are people who still can't find files, send attachments by email, or understand the concept of the desktop behind all their windows.

chaz 15y ago

I think we'll see more and more apps have Dropbox integration. For example, Day One is an iPhone/iPad/Mac journal app that can use Dropbox to sync journal files across all of your devices. Sparrow is a Mac email client that can upload photos into your Dropbox's public folder for your attachments and embeds a Dropbox URL, instead of actually attaching it to the email.