Dropbox introduces new API features(blog.dropbox.com)
blog.dropbox.com
Dropbox introduces new API features
https://blog.dropbox.com/2013/07/dbx/
9 comments
> that statistic implies that on average, Dropbox users only make changes to ~6 files in their Dropbox per day.
I believe it. Maybe I'm an outlier, but I usually only write to a few files from Dropbox in any given day. I read those files often, but I rarely write unless I'm doing something like uploading pictures from my camera.
I believe it. Maybe I'm an outlier, but I usually only write to a few files from Dropbox in any given day. I read those files often, but I rarely write unless I'm doing something like uploading pictures from my camera.
Makes sense to me. Not every user uses Dropbox every single day. Also, the 175m number is not qualified as people who have used the app in a certain amount of time, so that could include inactive accounts.
If you consider a "file sync" event as a single file being pulled to a single device, it could be 1 file to 6 devices per day which seems a lot more realistic to me. Especially when you consider teams that are probably syncing files across tens of devices multiple times per day.
Does 6 seem high or low to you?
If a user is using Dropbox as backup/sync as opposed to free long-term storage, 6 seems unbelieveably low.
I store my IM logs in my Dropbox. Every time a message is sent, 2 files are changed (the message log and the overall database). One conversation alone can fire 100 sync events.
And if you're like me and are a Ctrl+S addict when working on important papers or code, each Ctrl+S is a sync event.
I store my IM logs in my Dropbox. Every time a message is sent, 2 files are changed (the message log and the overall database). One conversation alone can fire 100 sync events.
And if you're like me and are a Ctrl+S addict when working on important papers or code, each Ctrl+S is a sync event.
I think you are definitely the outlier here. Most people I have seen using Dropbox store some documents there, not even all of them. Just those they want to have synced.
That’s also more or less the default for Dropbox, that’s how it’s set up and guides its users. It’s just some folder in your user folder, not even the documents folder. By default you have to actively think to put stuff in there.
I think you might just have a wrong picture of who uses Dropbox. Storing IM conversations or even all of your documents on there is quite esoteric.
Also, if you think of a typical home computer of someone who has a job then there aren’t going to be many files on that thing. A few letters to cancel something or other (but even that is done mostly by email these days), photos, videos and maybe some music (but many people don’t put that in their Dropbox because there is just no space) … that’s not much. You don’t need to create files to go to Facebook or read the news or get weather info or watch the stocks (minus Facebook that’s exactly the stuff my dad does on the family laptop and I installed Dropbox on both PCs in their house to keep their rarely changed documents folder in sync).
Yeah, students probably have more documents but I have even seen those only use Dropbox for collaborative stuff – not all the rest they do.
It’s not that those people don’t get value from Dropbox or don’t use it, they just don’t need it that often.
That’s also more or less the default for Dropbox, that’s how it’s set up and guides its users. It’s just some folder in your user folder, not even the documents folder. By default you have to actively think to put stuff in there.
I think you might just have a wrong picture of who uses Dropbox. Storing IM conversations or even all of your documents on there is quite esoteric.
Also, if you think of a typical home computer of someone who has a job then there aren’t going to be many files on that thing. A few letters to cancel something or other (but even that is done mostly by email these days), photos, videos and maybe some music (but many people don’t put that in their Dropbox because there is just no space) … that’s not much. You don’t need to create files to go to Facebook or read the news or get weather info or watch the stocks (minus Facebook that’s exactly the stuff my dad does on the family laptop and I installed Dropbox on both PCs in their house to keep their rarely changed documents folder in sync).
Yeah, students probably have more documents but I have even seen those only use Dropbox for collaborative stuff – not all the rest they do.
It’s not that those people don’t get value from Dropbox or don’t use it, they just don’t need it that often.
Fair enough. I admit I'm paranoid about my file integrity. :P
Although if the behavior that you describe is the typical user behavior, then that's not a good thing for Dropbox's attempts to convert free users to paying users.
Although if the behavior that you describe is the typical user behavior, then that's not a good thing for Dropbox's attempts to convert free users to paying users.
Yeah, but OTOH, a lot of people will use it just like a documents folder. So maybe there is a single Word or Excel doc that is updated at a time, once or twice a week. That's the other end of the curve.
Man, I really don't want to come off as a hater at all, but I never got the dropbox hype. They seriously have a developer conference now? Yikes.
And this is what Hacker News is, now? And the first comment, to boot?
Dropbox is incredibly easy and convenient to use. It's very simple, and that's what makes it great. It's simple enough for almost anyone to use. I've pointed tech-unsavvy friends and family at Dropbox with great success. It's just a folder on your computer that magically syncs to all your other computers too.
Now, there's nothing in that which justifies having a developer conference. I definitely do not understand that. But the Dropbox service itself deserves the praise it gets.
Now, there's nothing in that which justifies having a developer conference. I definitely do not understand that. But the Dropbox service itself deserves the praise it gets.
I am with you on this one.
I only got dropbox installed on my PC because we needed to exchange some files with an external contractor that only used Dropbox.
As soon as the project was finished I removed it from my PC.
I only got dropbox installed on my PC because we needed to exchange some files with an external contractor that only used Dropbox.
As soon as the project was finished I removed it from my PC.
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It seems strange to me that they are bragging about syncing between mobile and the web, but the only web SDK they provide is for JavaScript - I can't even find REST documentation for the Datastore API.
I love the idea of cloud apps that use user-provided datastores. It makes it both cheaper for a startup (because they can crowdsource their data storage) and easier for users to control what data services have about them. Google Drive already provides a service whereby I can store a user's data in his Drive account without cluttering his filesystem with my app's metadata. Dropbox Datastores sounds like a similar feature, but it's way less appealing to me if I can't talk to it from my backend.
I love the idea of cloud apps that use user-provided datastores. It makes it both cheaper for a startup (because they can crowdsource their data storage) and easier for users to control what data services have about them. Google Drive already provides a service whereby I can store a user's data in his Drive account without cluttering his filesystem with my app's metadata. Dropbox Datastores sounds like a similar feature, but it's way less appealing to me if I can't talk to it from my backend.
I agree. The first thing I did when I saw this announcement was look for the REST API. Surely, those existing platform specific libraries are built on a REST API, so why not document and release them.
It's in beta; don't want to nail down the protocol.
Seems like this is in direct competition with Parse.
I look forward to kicking the tires, since I've been looking for a solid replacement for Parse ever since Facebook bought them.
I look forward to kicking the tires, since I've been looking for a solid replacement for Parse ever since Facebook bought them.
Can anyone who uses the Dropbox API tell me if these features are significant?
From my .Net developer's point of view, I am not seeing why these aren't just weak versions of the Azure storage capabilities or Amazon's S3. It's nice to be able to target DropBox as a storage location but that's a pretty rare use-case for me. Especially since their security store is incomplete.
From my .Net developer's point of view, I am not seeing why these aren't just weak versions of the Azure storage capabilities or Amazon's S3. It's nice to be able to target DropBox as a storage location but that's a pretty rare use-case for me. Especially since their security store is incomplete.
I think fundamentally Dropbox's move away from the filesystem by exposing an API like this and through application acquisitions (music and mail) is about trying to become the Apple of personal data.
Dropbox has done a phenomenal job of taking a complex challenge (file sync) and making an incredibly simple user experience. Extending that strategy into other common tasks with new and purchased apps could be very successful. The big element missing is BaaS (back-end as a service) for data and events that aren't files. Given the poor track record of services like iCloud, you can imagine a lot of developers adopting the Dropbox API and in a few years most iOS devices might be running a combination of official Dropbox apps (replacements for itunes, mail, and maybe calendar) and many other essentially stateless apps that use the Dropbox API for sync and storage.
In the short term this could be very convenient for users and developers, but in the long run it creates another monolithic, centralized platform. This kind of functionality needs to be delivered as a protocol so users can choose service providers who compete on price, features, and privacy instead of being citizens of a particular platform (Facebook, Apple, Google, MSFT, or increasingly Dropbox).
Dropbox has done a phenomenal job of taking a complex challenge (file sync) and making an incredibly simple user experience. Extending that strategy into other common tasks with new and purchased apps could be very successful. The big element missing is BaaS (back-end as a service) for data and events that aren't files. Given the poor track record of services like iCloud, you can imagine a lot of developers adopting the Dropbox API and in a few years most iOS devices might be running a combination of official Dropbox apps (replacements for itunes, mail, and maybe calendar) and many other essentially stateless apps that use the Dropbox API for sync and storage.
In the short term this could be very convenient for users and developers, but in the long run it creates another monolithic, centralized platform. This kind of functionality needs to be delivered as a protocol so users can choose service providers who compete on price, features, and privacy instead of being citizens of a particular platform (Facebook, Apple, Google, MSFT, or increasingly Dropbox).
> This kind of functionality needs to be delivered as a protocol so users can choose service providers who compete on price, features, and privacy instead of being citizens of a particular platform (Facebook, Apple, Google, MSFT, or increasingly Dropbox).
How would this benefit dropbox?
How would this benefit dropbox?
Not sure which you mean:
- Their proprietary BaaS benefits them by consolidating all user data on their service and creates a greater incentive for users to upgrade to paying (or higher priced) plans.
- Alternatively, structuring this as a portocol (as we've tried to do with Tent https://tent.io) benefits the entire ecosystem. It's a little like asking how the web would benefit AOL. Protocols can bust monopolies but increase the overall value of an ecosystem. You might go from controlling 50% of n to controlling 10% of 20*n. Open ecosystems can encourage innovation in ways that centralized services can't, often to the benefit of the centralized players.
- Their proprietary BaaS benefits them by consolidating all user data on their service and creates a greater incentive for users to upgrade to paying (or higher priced) plans.
- Alternatively, structuring this as a portocol (as we've tried to do with Tent https://tent.io) benefits the entire ecosystem. It's a little like asking how the web would benefit AOL. Protocols can bust monopolies but increase the overall value of an ecosystem. You might go from controlling 50% of n to controlling 10% of 20*n. Open ecosystems can encourage innovation in ways that centralized services can't, often to the benefit of the centralized players.
It's a step toward evolution: Dropbox becoming a platform and not just a cloudy app. I wonder, though, about the amount of storage available at the free level -- is it enough to support a true platform?
isn't dropbox built on top of amazon?
Isn't it a platform on a platform at that point?
Isn't it a platform on a platform at that point?
Yes, but that doesn't mean it can't work and add value. Heroku is built on EC2, for example.
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Well, from a quick look at the Datastore API, they provide conflict resolution and offline support, which are pretty big if you're working on a mobile application.
How do they do actual conflict resolution? The example they give is address changed on one device and e-mail on another. That isn't a conflict.
It is if you're storing JSON blobs for contacts and simply send it up to a cloud storage service. It would be last-to-write wins, in this case. Supposedly, Dropbox would handle this sort of scenario.
Of course, this is assuming you weren't using a database (even a NoSQL DB) and simply updating the changed fields, which is probably how you'd realistically handle this situation.
EDIT:
Taking a closer look, it seems like the Datastore API is more of a way to synchronize multiple databases/stores (in essence). One stored locally on a phone (that can be changed, in their example, in airplane mode), one in the cloud, and one on the desktop, or anywhere else your app runs with the Datastore integration. While there are relatively simple ways to locally queue changes made while offline, and then sync them up to a master database in the cloud when the network comes back, Dropbox's Datastore seems to do this for you without you having to worry about it.
Of course, this is assuming you weren't using a database (even a NoSQL DB) and simply updating the changed fields, which is probably how you'd realistically handle this situation.
EDIT:
Taking a closer look, it seems like the Datastore API is more of a way to synchronize multiple databases/stores (in essence). One stored locally on a phone (that can be changed, in their example, in airplane mode), one in the cloud, and one on the desktop, or anywhere else your app runs with the Datastore integration. While there are relatively simple ways to locally queue changes made while offline, and then sync them up to a master database in the cloud when the network comes back, Dropbox's Datastore seems to do this for you without you having to worry about it.
For details, see:
https://www.dropbox.com/developers/datastore/tutorial/ios#co...
They have a few naive conflict resolution rules that you can choose from. The granularity is per field. They do have an option that attempts to be smart about array-valued fields.
https://www.dropbox.com/developers/datastore/tutorial/ios#co...
They have a few naive conflict resolution rules that you can choose from. The granularity is per field. They do have an option that attempts to be smart about array-valued fields.
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Assuming that the "1 billion" refers to number of sync events, that statistic implies that on average, Dropbox users only make changes to ~6 files in their Dropbox per day.
That doesn't make any sense at all. Dropbox must have a massive Power Law at work.
EDIT: I might be wrong with my interpretation of "files synced": it could mean distinct numbers of files that receive a sync event atleast once per day or files added per day to a Dropbox which are then synced. In both cases, I believe the ~6/day statistic and I apologize.