Dropbox

[kirkmc]

I install dropbox on my phone.

Sounds like the problem is more with your phone than with Dropbox itself. You say it sucks because it froze on your phone, but with what you were doing, pushing that much data, it's more likely that your phone sucks (or that your network connection was a problem).

It's a 3G phone on a fast cell tower network. I have no problem with any other network intensive apps. Things that take a long time show completion bars and I can go do other things while they finish. Not dropbox.

I don't think it actually can show a progress bar, because it's constantly updating. (I know that the Mac and iOS versions don't.) Every time you change a file, it would have to recalculate the entire contents of its folder, and how many files have changed and need to be updated. My guess is they don't have any progress bar for this reason.

Also, you say you were pushing 250 MB; have you done that with other apps over 3G? Just curious, as I don't use a mobile phone...

[wms]

I don't think it actually can show a progress bar, because it's constantly updating. (I know that the Mac and iOS versions don't.) Every time you change a file, it would have to recalculate the entire contents of its folder, and how many files have changed and need to be updated. My guess is they don't have any progress bar for this reason.

Also, you say you were pushing 250 MB; have you done that with other apps over 3G? Just curious, as I don't use a mobile phone...

Kirk, the mobile versions of dropbox don't constantly update. You tell it a file, the file is added to your box. You can get a list of what is in your box, and read a file out. The dropbox becomes more like an upload/download protocol, where whatever you upload appears in the dropbox on your other computers, and you can download files from the box to your SD card. So for the mobile version, a progress bar would make a lot of sense.

Have I pushed 250MB? Yes, as I said originally, after dropbox was clearly unusable for this task I switched to the Picasa uploader. It worked great. I could select batches of files at once, it gave me constant progress updates, and it could stop and continue later; all of these features made it quite easy to move such a large amount of data off a mobile phone.

Dropbox works great on PC's, I'll agree with that. But their mobile client sucks if you want to do more than transfer the occasional small file.

[kirkmc]

I don't think it actually can show a progress bar, because it's constantly updating. (I know that the Mac and iOS versions don't.) Every time you change a file, it would have to recalculate the entire contents of its folder, and how many files have changed and need to be updated. My guess is they don't have any progress bar for this reason.

Also, you say you were pushing 250 MB; have you done that with other apps over 3G? Just curious, as I don't use a mobile phone...

Kirk, the mobile versions of dropbox don't constantly update. You tell it a file, the file is added to your box. You can get a list of what is in your box, and read a file out. The dropbox becomes more like an upload/download protocol, where whatever you upload appears in the dropbox on your other computers, and you can download files from the box to your SD card. So for the mobile version, a progress bar would make a lot of sense.

Have I pushed 250MB? Yes, as I said originally, after dropbox was clearly unusable for this task I switched to the Picasa uploader. It worked great. I could select batches of files at once, it gave me constant progress updates, and it could stop and continue later; all of these features made it quite easy to move such a large amount of data off a mobile phone.

Dropbox works great on PC's, I'll agree with that. But their mobile client sucks if you want to do more than transfer the occasional small file.

Hmm, I'm not sure how Dropbox works on Android, but I assume that since Android is more "open" that you would be able to store files differently. On iOS, that's the case; you download a file and open it with an app; you can't download folders.

[LR24]

I tried using dropbox but it worked really, really badly on my phone (which was mostly where I wanted to use it)

I always thought dropbox is great to have on the phone, but could not really use it due to the lack of wifi on my phone. (and i don't have enough free traffic to download/upload through 3G) Hearing there can be problems on the phone makes me want a new phone less.

[DrStraw]

I have been using Dropbox to keep all of my important files synced between my desktop and laptop for quite awhile. I really like it.

Terri

I have never heard of Dropbox and I cannot see any use for it in my case. But I have to wonder about this statement. I assume that it saves files on some server somewhere. Do you really want your important files stored on someone else's server? I store my really important files on an external drive and don't even connect to the internet when that drive is connected.

[LR24]

It's the same with most online services, would you want google/microsoft/.. to read all your mails? Just like I don't really like the idea, it's super unlikely for any google employee to be interested in exactly my mails. Same with dropbox, they are no small company.
Also, for personal files, you can always use Truecrypt or other encryption programs and put the encrypted files into your dropbox. If you choose a strong password, even the US government can't get your files with that. (at least not in the next few decades)

[kirkmc]

I have been using Dropbox to keep all of my important files synced between my desktop and laptop for quite awhile. I really like it.

Terri

I have never heard of Dropbox and I cannot see any use for it in my case. But I have to wonder about this statement. I assume that it saves files on some server somewhere. Do you really want your important files stored on someone else's server? I store my really important files on an external drive and don't even connect to the internet when that drive is connected.

Yes, it stores files on their servers. I would never put any sensitive files on it. No more than I would trust anything of mine to Google.

But it's not holding your only copies of files; you have a folder on your computer containing the files, and copies are made on the Dropbox servers.

[hyperpape]

There are multiple dimensions of importance and associated security needs. My coursework and downloaded philosophy articles were, and probably still are, my most important files, but require very minor privacy protections. The worst that could have happened is that if someone in the field read them, they might have judged me for unpolished work. Getting scooped would be another possibility, but is even less likely.

Of course others will have different documents with different security needs.

[kirkmc]

There are multiple dimensions of importance and associated security needs. My coursework and downloaded philosophy articles were, and probably still are, my most important files, but require very minor privacy protections. The worst that could have happened is that if someone in the field read them, they might have judged me for unpolished work. Getting scooped would be another possibility, but is even less likely.

Of course others will have different documents with different security needs.

And given the importance of those files, it's a Good Thing to have them backed up on a server; especially since you can get previous versions from Dropbox archives as well.

[flOvermind]

Its also easy to setup encryption on top of dropbox. Used that way, the original files never leave your computer. That should be enough for the usual "hot" documents. Of course, if you don't want anyone to be able to find out ever, even given a few years of technological advance plus 50 years time to decrypt it, you'd have to be a bit more careful

[emeraldemon]

GPG should be good enough for most things. That said:

[goddess]

The important files are my sgf lesson files mostly.

Everyone is welcome to have a copy if they want.

[martyd9906]

I have been using dropbox for over a year now. It serves as a fantastic backup solution. If you lose your laptop or if your hard drive goes out, you have a backup that is up the minute. I also like the way that they offer file revisions. For example, if you want to go back a week, it can do that. Great service!

[SpongeBob]

Finally I've got a use case for drop box - hurray!

(Installed it via the OP's referral link.)