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Stuff like this is why I like Dropbox even though it's more expensive. File syncing is their bread and butter. It's their main business, not a sideshow. They're

Stuff like this is why I like Dropbox even though it's more expensive. File syncing is their bread and butter. It's their main business, not a sideshow. They're always going to do this better than anyone else.

CSDude 12y ago
Can you give another example than this? Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to justify the huge price difference.
- wasd 12y ago
  LAN sync is only available on Dropbox and is incredibly useful.
  - ceejayoz 12y ago
    I really wish all the Dropbox clients on a LAN would coordinate and not all download the same file from Dropbox. We had our three work machines all downloading a ~400MB file the other day. No reason Dropbox couldn't figure that out and have one machine download the file and then distribute over LAN.
    - gumby 12y ago
      "No reason Dropbox couldn't figure that out and have one machine download the file and then distribute over LAN." They could have each machine download a chunk and have them swap chunks locally. That would asymptote in time towards a single download. That would handle cases of the "one" machine going offline close to the end, or having it being the slowest machine available.
      - ceejayoz 12y ago
        That's a great idea to handle those sorts of edge cases.
      - rhizome 12y ago
        In other words, a slightly more managed Bit Torrent.
  - cool-RR 12y ago
    It's also available on AeroFS, and it actually works much better on AeroFS. (I still prefer Dropbox to AeroFS because Dropbox is more reliable.)
  - edude03 12y ago
    BTSync has it as well.
  - MartinMond 12y ago
    I tried BTSync and was blown away by how much faster sync in general and especially LAN sync was. I guess Bittorrent Inc. knows how to properly transfer files.
  - corford 12y ago
    Spideroak does LAN sync as well
- leorocky 12y ago
  Things that come to mind immediately: Dropbox works equally well across platforms with near 0 synchronization issues. It's just a folder. They aren't trying to add cloud to their own platform, they don't care what device you use or if you use Apple's word processor or Microsoft or Google Docs. Dropbox has has a firebase/Parse style API you can use to build applications that store that application data in the cloud. My favorite Dropbox API uses: automatic syncing of O'reilly Media books. Whenever O'reilly updates one of their ebooks, I always have the current copy, because O'reilly syncs it with Dropbox. 1Password synching. automatic Hackpad backups (they had that even before they were bought). I installed this new app the other day, Trickster from the Mac App store, it automatically detected I was using Dropbox. But I'll mention some negatives: Those new recent android apps were really bad and I uninstalled them. Carousel and that other one, I don't even remember what it was now. They were just terrible apps, at least on my Galaxy S4.
  - kawsper 12y ago
    > 1Password synching. Some would think this as a normal use-case for a cloud-drive. But since 1Password backups seems to be using a format that Box.com won't upload, they are rejecting the files with this error: > "Package files — Save as a flat file or a compressed ZIP file and reload" It also means that you can't save .dmg-files. I don't understand these limitations, Box.coms software feels rock-solid, and then I hit these strange limitations. Dropbox on the other hand seems to allow all the filetypes I have thrown at them.
    - leorocky 12y ago
      > Some would think this as a normal use-case for a cloud-drive. It's more than just that since the Android and IOS 1Password apps can sync from Dropbox without Dropbox being installed on the device. They're synching using the dropbox API in those cases I'd think.
    - zimpenfish 12y ago
      Dropbox also has problems with OSX Package files. Rubitrack is one that caught me out - http://www.rubitrack.com/faq.html http://www.rubitrack.com/faq.html "This is a problem known to Dropbox for many years and it affects not just rubiTrack but hundreds of Mac apps that use a package file format."
- potato 12y ago
  The Packrat feature is also nice. https://www.dropbox.com/help/113/en https://www.dropbox.com/help/113/en
  - tumblen 12y ago
    Packrat is the most important part of Dropbox for me - has saved me countless times when I need an old version of a file.
- FigBug 12y ago
  For me it's 'stays connected' For some reason Google Drive will disconnect periodically and there is no reconnect option. You have to exit and restart, and then it needs to re-index everything. Multiple Dropboxs. New feature, but I can run my work and home dropbox at the same time and they sync to different folders. Sharing is cleaner. When I invite a Dropbox user to a share, the share appears in their drive. With Google drive, they get access to the share web only but it doesn't sync to their drive. The UI to get it to sync to drive isn't clear, so I end up doing a lot of 'support' I also find the Google Drive .gdoc files bizarre. They aren't actual files, users don't understand you can't copy them out of the drive to back them up, etc.
  - ollysb 12y ago
    Insync[1] does a good job of solving this, the google docs files are the microsoft equivalent, e.g. spreadsheets sync as excel files (note I'm not affiliated in any way). [1] https://www.insynchq.com/ https://www.insynchq.com/
- jl6 12y ago
  If you pay for the business account, you get unlimited space. If you actually do use multiple terabytes, then the per-GB cost is pretty good.
exarch 12y ago
Shame on you for supporting a company that does not respect your privacy, lies to you, and puts a torturing, Constitution-destroying war criminal on their board of directors.
- xxpor 12y ago
  Guess what: 99% of people don't give a flying fuck.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - CamperBob2 12y ago
    That's progress. Last year it was 99.1%.
- pbreit 12y ago
  Easy downvote. I don't think any of your (inflammatory) assertions are supportable.
  - snsr 12y ago
    While exarch's comment is inflammatory, Dr. Rice was involved in asserting the legality of torture during her tenure in the executive branch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice#Role_in_authorizing_use_of_controversial_interrogation_techniques http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice#Role_in_author...
    - dreamfactory2 12y ago
      Her defence is that she was only the messenger?
    - pbreit 12y ago
      You do realize that confirms she was not a war criminal?
- 12y ago

CSDude 12y ago

Can you give another example than this? Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to justify the huge price difference.

wasd 12y ago
LAN sync is only available on Dropbox and is incredibly useful.
- ceejayoz 12y ago
  I really wish all the Dropbox clients on a LAN would coordinate and not all download the same file from Dropbox. We had our three work machines all downloading a ~400MB file the other day. No reason Dropbox couldn't figure that out and have one machine download the file and then distribute over LAN.
  - gumby 12y ago
    "No reason Dropbox couldn't figure that out and have one machine download the file and then distribute over LAN." They could have each machine download a chunk and have them swap chunks locally. That would asymptote in time towards a single download. That would handle cases of the "one" machine going offline close to the end, or having it being the slowest machine available.
    - ceejayoz 12y ago
      That's a great idea to handle those sorts of edge cases.
    - rhizome 12y ago
      In other words, a slightly more managed Bit Torrent.
- cool-RR 12y ago
  It's also available on AeroFS, and it actually works much better on AeroFS. (I still prefer Dropbox to AeroFS because Dropbox is more reliable.)
- edude03 12y ago
  BTSync has it as well.
- MartinMond 12y ago
  I tried BTSync and was blown away by how much faster sync in general and especially LAN sync was. I guess Bittorrent Inc. knows how to properly transfer files.
- corford 12y ago
  Spideroak does LAN sync as well
leorocky 12y ago
Things that come to mind immediately: Dropbox works equally well across platforms with near 0 synchronization issues. It's just a folder. They aren't trying to add cloud to their own platform, they don't care what device you use or if you use Apple's word processor or Microsoft or Google Docs. Dropbox has has a firebase/Parse style API you can use to build applications that store that application data in the cloud. My favorite Dropbox API uses: automatic syncing of O'reilly Media books. Whenever O'reilly updates one of their ebooks, I always have the current copy, because O'reilly syncs it with Dropbox. 1Password synching. automatic Hackpad backups (they had that even before they were bought). I installed this new app the other day, Trickster from the Mac App store, it automatically detected I was using Dropbox. But I'll mention some negatives: Those new recent android apps were really bad and I uninstalled them. Carousel and that other one, I don't even remember what it was now. They were just terrible apps, at least on my Galaxy S4.
- kawsper 12y ago
  > 1Password synching. Some would think this as a normal use-case for a cloud-drive. But since 1Password backups seems to be using a format that Box.com won't upload, they are rejecting the files with this error: > "Package files — Save as a flat file or a compressed ZIP file and reload" It also means that you can't save .dmg-files. I don't understand these limitations, Box.coms software feels rock-solid, and then I hit these strange limitations. Dropbox on the other hand seems to allow all the filetypes I have thrown at them.
  - leorocky 12y ago
    > Some would think this as a normal use-case for a cloud-drive. It's more than just that since the Android and IOS 1Password apps can sync from Dropbox without Dropbox being installed on the device. They're synching using the dropbox API in those cases I'd think.
  - zimpenfish 12y ago
    Dropbox also has problems with OSX Package files. Rubitrack is one that caught me out - http://www.rubitrack.com/faq.html http://www.rubitrack.com/faq.html "This is a problem known to Dropbox for many years and it affects not just rubiTrack but hundreds of Mac apps that use a package file format."
potato 12y ago
The Packrat feature is also nice. https://www.dropbox.com/help/113/en https://www.dropbox.com/help/113/en
- tumblen 12y ago
  Packrat is the most important part of Dropbox for me - has saved me countless times when I need an old version of a file.
FigBug 12y ago
For me it's 'stays connected' For some reason Google Drive will disconnect periodically and there is no reconnect option. You have to exit and restart, and then it needs to re-index everything. Multiple Dropboxs. New feature, but I can run my work and home dropbox at the same time and they sync to different folders. Sharing is cleaner. When I invite a Dropbox user to a share, the share appears in their drive. With Google drive, they get access to the share web only but it doesn't sync to their drive. The UI to get it to sync to drive isn't clear, so I end up doing a lot of 'support' I also find the Google Drive .gdoc files bizarre. They aren't actual files, users don't understand you can't copy them out of the drive to back them up, etc.
- ollysb 12y ago
  Insync[1] does a good job of solving this, the google docs files are the microsoft equivalent, e.g. spreadsheets sync as excel files (note I'm not affiliated in any way). [1] https://www.insynchq.com/ https://www.insynchq.com/
jl6 12y ago
If you pay for the business account, you get unlimited space. If you actually do use multiple terabytes, then the per-GB cost is pretty good.

exarch 12y ago

Shame on you for supporting a company that does not respect your privacy, lies to you, and puts a torturing, Constitution-destroying war criminal on their board of directors.

xxpor 12y ago
Guess what: 99% of people don't give a flying fuck.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- CamperBob2 12y ago
  That's progress. Last year it was 99.1%.
pbreit 12y ago
Easy downvote. I don't think any of your (inflammatory) assertions are supportable.
- snsr 12y ago
  While exarch's comment is inflammatory, Dr. Rice was involved in asserting the legality of torture during her tenure in the executive branch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice#Role_in_authorizing_use_of_controversial_interrogation_techniques http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice#Role_in_author...
  - dreamfactory2 12y ago
    Her defence is that she was only the messenger?
  - pbreit 12y ago
    You do realize that confirms she was not a war criminal?
12y ago