Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 24th Apr 2012 17:39 UTC
Well, this has been a very, very long time in the making. Google has finally unveiled its big Dropbox competitor: Google Drive. You start with 5GB for free, and you can go all the way to 1TB for $50 per month. This is a big deal for many (if you were to use rumouring as a gauge), but all I can think of is this: why on earth would you entrust your files to a company - any company - whose sole interest is extracting money from you, and who, to boot, is subject to crazy American laws?
Thread beginning with comment 515563
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2006-01-25
A cheap NAS is no where near DropBox and it would be difficult to make it that way even with a layer of easy-to-install-and-configure software on top.
I realize dropbox has lots of features that would be difficult to next-to-impossible to replicate. I know what dropbox does.
The point is if you reduce it down to "have a local folder on your device (whatever device it may be) that is automatically synchronized with a central storage location (the NAS)", well then it is rather simple.
The rest is just additional features - some people will care about certain of those missing features, some won't. But the central function of the software is folder synchronization - everything else is just noise.
That is how software development works - you start with the basics, build a good foundation, and grow the features set from there. If you don't understand that maybe you shouldn't be commenting.
ownCloud is good, of course, but not everyone can or will self host.
This is for people who ONLY want to self host - that is the entire point... And if ownCloud is good, why couldn't it potentially be used on a Raspberry Pi? Im not saying it wouldn't be some work - the point though is to have a plug-and-play piece of hardware, not to recreate the entire featureset of dropbox.
The killer feature of dropbox is that is just fricken works. THAT is what you need to replicate, not the entire feature set. It didn't start out as a swiss army knife you know - originally it was pretty much just folder sync...
Edited 2012-04-24 19:15 UTC
Member since:2006-01-25
Just to drive it home... read this - it perfectly illustrates my point:
http://www.theserverside.com/discussions/thread.tss?thread_id=61647
(Quote from a post describing why dropbox is so popular)
Well, let's take a step back and think about the sync problem and what the ideal solution for it would do:
There would be a folder.
You'd put your stuff in it.
It would sync.
They built that.
Why didn't anyone else build that? I have no idea.
"But," you may ask, "so much more you could do! What about task management, calendaring, customized dashboards, virtual white boarding. More than just folders and files!"
No, shut up. People don't use that crap. They just want a folder. A folder that syncs.
Couldn't have put it better...
RE[3]: What about... - data redundancy
by jabbotts on Wed 25th Apr 2012 15:42
in reply to "RE[2]: What about..."
Member since:2007-09-06
To get the data redundancy and such, you'd likely need a drop-pi module that lets' it talk to S3 or similar hosted storage providers. Your little cloud needs a cloud-daddy or you may as well just carry a USB for all the benefit your gaining.
Mind you, at that point the question becomes; why are you not simply using the storage provider's client app instead of your drop-pi intermediary hardware.
For big budgets, one could also look at SpiderOak's appliance which is pretty much what you are trying to recreate.
Still, it's an interesting idea. The first thought when looking at Dropbox was "if they had an appliance that moved this thing inside my own network..".
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 23:02 UTC, submitted by M.Onty
"Microsoft has sensationally abandoned its controversial plans to restrict the sharing of XBox One games, and has also removed daily online authentication requirements for its forthcoming console", reports The Guardian. They had no choice. Still a good move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/19/13 22:28 UTC
"A snippet of code in the Steam digital distribution platform has revealed that Valve may be planning to let users easily share their games with friends in the future. The Verge has verified the code's authenticity, which was originally spotted by a member of the NeoGAF gaming forum; the code references a 'shared game library' and a notification that would alert a user when their games are currently in use by a borrower." This would change the, uh, game.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:33 UTC
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
Linked by Anonymous on 06/18/13 22:26 UTC
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 22:25 UTC
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:45 UTC
"I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/18/13 17:32 UTC, submitted by poundsmack
A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)".
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."More News »
Sponsored Links
Member since:
2005-11-02
There is so much ridiculous naivete in replies, but I'm going to single out yours.
A cheap NAS is no where near DropBox and it would be difficult to make it that way even with a layer of easy-to-install-and-configure software on top. If you think that it's comparable you don't understand DropBox and shouldn't be commenting.
If security is a concern, don't use DropBox. Instead use a service that does the encryption client side, e.g. SpiderOak, Wuala, etc.
ownCloud is good, of course, but not everyone can or will self host.