
Why is DropBox Thriving?  - dcancel
http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/09/28/why-do-some-online-services-thrive/
======
mdasen
It's thriving because it _just works_. Works when you're offline. Works if you
try to save conflicting copies of a file. Works if you accidentally delete a
file. Works if you need to retrieve an old version of a file. Works if your
internet connection is spotty.

Rather than punting on the hard issues and creating another WebDAV-like
service, they actually created something that _just works_.

~~~
njharman
It more than just works. It works awesomely across multiple platforms.

It's simple (automatic) to use but not simplistic. Its power ramps up when you
need it (file recovery) and fades away when you don't.

It doesn't get in the way (with advertising, installing crapware, charging
micropayments, proprietary restrictions/formats, etc.)

~~~
cdr
It might work "awesomely" one some platforms, but the Nautilus integration is
pretty buggy - it was a nightmare to try to get it working on my Ubunutu
09.04. I ended up having to just use the command line utility a user wrote.

~~~
brlewis
Odd. I had no trouble on Ubuntu 9.04.

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andr
It must be noted that Dropbox solves a problem that Microsoft has been trying
to solve for decades. Ever since the MS DOS LAN Manager, MSFT has been working
on a file synchronization and sharing solution (and they are only beginning to
tackle the synchronization part).

SMB, Microsoft Groove, SharePoint, SkyDrive (aka LiveDrive), LiveMesh, Windows
LiveSync (aka Folder Share), SyncToy, and even Briefcase, are different
attempts at solving the same problem.

Still, my Mac and my Windows 7 PC sitting on the same desk won't talk to each
other and Dropbox is the only thing that works.

------
brown9-2
Article kind of seems like linkbait - the author seems to ask the question
"What makes an online service successful?" but of course doesn't provide any
specific answers or really anything specific about Dropbox at all.

Surprise surprise, the same things that make an offline service successful are
what make an online service successful too.

~~~
volida
The title given on HN is different from the original which is "Why Do Some
Online Services Thrive?".

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10ren
Here's why the founder (and pg) thought it could thrive:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=801503>

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iamwil
Well, one thing is that it stands out in my mind as best of class. So if
someone asked me about file syncing, they come to mind. Whenever people want
to share files, I tell them about dropbox.

~~~
bhousel
Agreed about the "it just comes to mind" aspect of the site.

I think it really helps that they picked such a great name for the service.
It's easy to remember and tell others, and the name describes exactly what it
does. I'm sure this has been a factor in the speed at which they're signing on
new users.

Dropbox is one of the best examples of great product naming that I can think
of.

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Steve0
Just want to note they give users the incentive of extra space when a friend
joins and installs the application. They also have a nice tracking tool to
'spy' on which people showed interest and how far in the registration-process
they got.

------
maxwin
How many of the 2 million users are paying customers? Is dropbox losing money
for now because of the 2GB it gives out for free? I believe dropbox will make
money but right now it seems that it is still burning money.

~~~
hyperbovine
2gb of storage costs $.24 a month on S3, and you figure they only average
about half full. Call it an even $.50 with data transfer costs, and you've got
just one paying customer (at $9.99/month) subsidizing ~15 free users. A
1-in-15 conversion rate seems like a modest goal. They may not be losing any
money at all.

~~~
netsp
I use dropbox and am happy with it. I save files to it every day. I share
files using it about once a fortnight and I grab files via the web app about
once in 2-3 months.

I'm at 23.1% of 2.5 GB.

I don't think I will upgrade soon unless I start to use two machines
regularly.

I would guess less per average free user (maybe as low as $2 per year). I
would guess that 1/15 conversion is also a high estimate. But I might convert
in a few years time. I imagine that it'll take another year or two before they
really know what conversion rates look like.

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dhughes
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oRy-vM1OQs>

Couldn't have said it better myself, including the "actually no maybe not"
part when going into my pictures folder ;)

Even with 25GB versus 2GB, Dropbox is more popular.

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dawie
Dropbox also has a bit of secret sauce. They have some technology that can
pick up which bits changed in a file and only sync those (which makes their
service way faster than others)

~~~
hyperbovine
librsync (<http://sourceforge.net/projects/librsync/>) does this. It's LGPL'd
so I wouldn't be surprised if they were using it. Certainly a lot simpler than
reinventing the wheel.

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mtholking
I think it is thriving because is simple and transparent. Users dont have to
learn how to use a new application if they don't need the advanced features.
They just drop files into folders like they always have.

It was perfect solution for integrating version control for my diverse team of
designers(macs), developers(linux) and everyone else(windows).

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rms
They made something you want to tell your friends about. I noticed people
started using it (independently from me) at my engineering college last year
and by now shared Dropbox folders are widely used on group projects.

------
fjabre
Given their quick growth I'm curious to know what kind of marketing they did
initially or what their main strategy was for getting the word out.

~~~
bmelton
Love 'em or hate 'em, I initially heard about Dropbox on Techcrunch.com. I
immediately signed up for the free 2Gb account (as I usually sign up for
almost anything free).

I think it was a couple of weeks later before I ever got around to installing
it on a second PC and actually using the sync functionality across boxes, and
probably a day or so after that their usability and overall perfection
convinced me to buy.

