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This gets close to the mark. But I feel like chiming in with my two cents on why I drop $10/mo on Dropbox. It changed the way I work with files. And it's all t

This gets close to the mark. But I feel like chiming in with my two cents on why I drop $10/mo on Dropbox. It changed the way I work with files. And it's all the client. Before Dropbox my options for sharing a file with someone were all cumbersome: - CD/DVD/Hard Drive/USB Stick. Unless they're not within 10 miles of me, then it's a total non starter. - Email it. Except if it was too large, it would cause a litany of problems with mail servers. - Toss is up on an FTP. Clunky. FTP is an awful protocol. - Any of a dozen file sharing websites that I've never particularity trusted, and some of which require the person receiving the file to follow some directions or have an account. No. Just no. The portals for uploading are clunky. Then Dropbox happened. - Public folders? Genius. Doesn't change my workflow at all, just slap it in to the folder and copy a link that I can share with anyone. No accounts required on the other end. - Shared folders? Changed how I work forever. Not only do I get an affiliate bump every time I get someone on the plan, but then it makes the process for THEM sending ME a file brain dead simple. I have the luxury of having access to an FTP account and knowing how to use it. Some of my clients and friends do not. Nor do I expect them to, or even want them to. FTP sucks. Just today I went over five iterations of a design in real time with a friend, and all he had to do was stick a JPG in a folder. He didn't even have to tell me, I got a notification and everything. Awesome! - Photos folder? Now I can just drop pics from my SD card and shoot an email to Mom. No clunky website, uploading, naming, organizing, configuring, and then finally sending. Just photos, copy to Dropbox folder, send her a link, done. Moms happy. I'm happy. Do you notice a theme between those three things? They all get the hell out of my way. Every other offering on the planet wants to ask me things and do things and make the cloud storage process cumbersome and heavy. Dropbox, I move files in to a folder and it takes care of shit. It allows anyone -- regardless of experience level -- to leverage the power of a basic version control and synchronization system without lifting a finger. THAT is the secret. Not that it's cloud. Not that it's hip. Not right place or time. Not hardware/software disassociation philosophic nonsense. It works. And it doesn't get in your way to get that work done. I don't even have any USB sticks anymore, and I don't care. Why go to the trouble of plugging in a device when I could just copy it to a folder?

vq 15y ago
If you considered using FTP to share files, why didn't you consider HTTP? No one can argue against that it's extremely well supported on the client-side and pushing files to a server (with ssh for example) or hosting a small http-server locally (twistd for example) is usually no big problem.
- zmmz 15y ago
  > And it's all the client. I believe the "client" in this case was "customer". Getting somebody to right click on a folder and selecting 'share in dropbox' is the easiest thing that I can ask of somebody. All files within that folder will be visible to me, even if they make changes. Another key thing with dropbox is that it made sharing files easier by allowing you to share folders. I, for one, going through the attach -> browse -> open dialogue for each photo I wanted to show to somebody.
  - bittermang 15y ago
    No, I truly believe it's the client. The phone app. The desktop app. It's the lynchpin that makes all this stuff a breeze. I don't have to tell it anything. Put photos in the photos folder and they become a photo gallery. Share a folder and it's just shared. And I can invite as many people as I want. Or kick them out. Or remove myself from a folder someone shared with ME. Or shut down the whole folder if I own it. Put something in Public and right click for a link. Immediate, no questions asked, effortless workflow. If I had to change anything I was already doing to use Dropbox, I wouldn't have even given it a first thought, let alone a second thought, least of all my $10. And in your example it is the "client" that makes it so easy for the "customer" to get them to share files with you.
- bittermang 15y ago
  I did. But that only solved half of it. My methods for putting the file in a place where someone could download it via HTTP were clunky. I've got a web server. Or I could host one locally. But it's all just so cumbersome and unwieldy for what should be a simple task. Take a file. Push it from Point A to Point B. But I'm technically competent enough to set up all that stuff and wrangle with it. Someone else who just wants to share some files, maybe not so much. Realistically? I'm serving them via HTTP now when I use my Public folder. But the process for getting the file to the person I want to share it with has been grossly simplified. Just because I am technically competent enough to go through a detailed process to share a file doesn't mean it's a good User Experience. I enjoy working on and maintaining this stuff, but it can still be frustrating. Dropbox makes it painless. Almost effortless.

vq 15y ago

If you considered using FTP to share files, why didn't you consider HTTP? No one can argue against that it's extremely well supported on the client-side and pushing files to a server (with ssh for example) or hosting a small http-server locally (twistd for example) is usually no big problem.

zmmz 15y ago
> And it's all the client. I believe the "client" in this case was "customer". Getting somebody to right click on a folder and selecting 'share in dropbox' is the easiest thing that I can ask of somebody. All files within that folder will be visible to me, even if they make changes. Another key thing with dropbox is that it made sharing files easier by allowing you to share folders. I, for one, going through the attach -> browse -> open dialogue for each photo I wanted to show to somebody.
- bittermang 15y ago
  No, I truly believe it's the client. The phone app. The desktop app. It's the lynchpin that makes all this stuff a breeze. I don't have to tell it anything. Put photos in the photos folder and they become a photo gallery. Share a folder and it's just shared. And I can invite as many people as I want. Or kick them out. Or remove myself from a folder someone shared with ME. Or shut down the whole folder if I own it. Put something in Public and right click for a link. Immediate, no questions asked, effortless workflow. If I had to change anything I was already doing to use Dropbox, I wouldn't have even given it a first thought, let alone a second thought, least of all my $10. And in your example it is the "client" that makes it so easy for the "customer" to get them to share files with you.
bittermang 15y ago
I did. But that only solved half of it. My methods for putting the file in a place where someone could download it via HTTP were clunky. I've got a web server. Or I could host one locally. But it's all just so cumbersome and unwieldy for what should be a simple task. Take a file. Push it from Point A to Point B. But I'm technically competent enough to set up all that stuff and wrangle with it. Someone else who just wants to share some files, maybe not so much. Realistically? I'm serving them via HTTP now when I use my Public folder. But the process for getting the file to the person I want to share it with has been grossly simplified. Just because I am technically competent enough to go through a detailed process to share a file doesn't mean it's a good User Experience. I enjoy working on and maintaining this stuff, but it can still be frustrating. Dropbox makes it painless. Almost effortless.