Dropbox Opens To the Public
September 11th, 2008 (12:33pm) Scott Blitstein 30 CommentsTweet This (1)
File sync, storage and sharing site Dropbox launches to the public today ending the need for pesky beta codes or invites to this very cool service.
Mike gave us a glimpse of Dropbox back in March, and in my testing of services of this type I found Dropbox to be among the easiest to use and manage. Because there is no new interface to learn, it just works for me, and is easy to introduce to clients. A nice demo screencast does a great job of explaining how it all works.
Also announced today is the availability of a Linux client to add to their existing Windows and Mac options as well as information on new storage plan options. The 2GB free accounts are still around but if you need more space you will have the option to upgrade to a 50GB box for $9.99 / month or $99.99 / year.
Will you try Dropbox? With the myriad of sync and share options available, what do you use to keep files in sync?
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Been using it since it came out in Beta and have totally loved it. One of the few tools I actually use.
DropBox is fantastic!! I’ve been using it for months – I don’t know how we survived without it!
Is there really need for client app? WEBDAV HTTP protocol expansion has all it takes to drive-mount your online storage.(e.g. box.net).
This app is really simple and very useful. I love it. Recommended.
Point noted (and cogs whirring) re. WebDav above, tho.
On closer inspection of box.net, dropbox is massively cheaper with a lot more storage, also.
Drop Box is one of the best cross-platform sharing/syncing tool out there and they have made it really easy to use.
I have been waiting patiently for this to become public, now that it is I installed it last night and see many uses for this application. I love it when a company finds simple solutions to problems that we all have. Great job love it so far!
Some of you that compares box.net or WEBDAV storage forget that Dropbox also provides file versioning!
That’s really useful.
The fact that Dropbox (and Jungledisk too) have clients for all major systems is a plus for me. That plus versioning sells it.
It has its uses, although I’m not a fan of downloading additional software to get my files – I’d rather take a smaller amount of Free FTP Space, thanks :)
- Reelix
Now I’m confused. What about DropBoks?
How to they compare?
Pity my country will charge me around R450 to R500 just for a 384kbit (yes Kilobits only!!) line speed and 2Gigs of cap allowance. I see no one hear being able to use this lovely service sadly :(
South Africa of course and correction on my spelling *hear = here :P:P I’m half asleep
All fine and dandy, but …
What about security?
Browsed through the small dropbox website and no mention of encryption on data transfers or stored encryption (which might not be straightforward, but still doable I think).
On the other hand, it’s got cool features, such as the iPhone interface (very nice gallery interface there, reminiscent of the mobile facebook UI).
Security is an issue though for me at the moment, at least for sensitive data.
Looks good, but already using Microsofts Live Mesh and it does the same thing plus intergrated remote desktop to any PC you have it on, as well as the web interface…
See also rsync.net — a lot more expensive for 50GB but encrypted and some other cool tools.
Update: Finally found a link to the faq page on getdropbox. There was no mention elsewhere nor on their blog, but transfers are through SSL and things are stored in encrypted form on their end. They might possibly provide private keys on the server though that complicates the web viewing feature option.
On the security comment, this is a quote from the dropbox product tour:
Your files are always safe. All data is transferred over SSL and encrypted with AES-256 before storage.
This is Sean over at Box.net. If your readers have any questions on what they can do with Box.net versus other services that focus on sync, please feel free to reach out to us. We are always working on ways to make it easier to work on files, share them and collaborate on them on any device and any platform, wherever users are.
It’s perfect service. We use it for share all projects files between our team