I wrote this two years ago but it remains my favorite collaboration and sync storage option when working with decent sized files that you can’t transfer by email-
File this under cool free useful stuff on the internet.
What is Dropbox you ask?
From the website-
Dropbox is software that syncs your files online and across your computers
Put your files into your Dropbox folder on one computer, and they’ll automatically appear on any of your other computers that also have Dropbox installed (Windows, Mac, and Linux too!). You can even download Dropbox apps for your smartphone or mobile device (iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry). Everything in your Dropbox is available from the Dropbox website, too.
I use it almost daily for files that I want to have access to on my android phone, desktop computer and iPad. The feature I like most however is the sharing capability. I share Dropbox folders with some people I collaborate with on projects like videos from Jim Capillo at Cape Ann TV. Also Alicia Cox and I share a Dropbox folder for her Alicia Unleashed Podcast. We share online Dropbox folders in which they share copies the audio and video files of our podcast when they are done editing them and we can both access the files. I then grab the files from wherever I happen to be: home computer, on my mobile android phone or on my iPad at a coffee shop and I can then upload them to the blog. The difference between this way of sharing and storing files through email is that Dropbox hosts them everywhere at once because it is stored to the cloud and you can transfer and store huge files that would never be allowed through regular email because they are too large. you’d never be able to transfer a file that big through email.
You get 2GB of free cloud storage and it opens up a ton of possibilities to host music, pictures or movies which you can stream from any of your devices.
You can’t beat it so if you want to get something cool for free, you can go to the Dropbox website and sign up for a free account here
Here are some reviews from trusted tech websites that can probably explain it even better than me-
The appeal is its utter simplicity — it’s essentially invisible, doing the task that isn’t hard but none of us care to remember to do, namely, backing up our files.
from “There’s room yet in the cloud”
by G.F., The Economist – 8/24/10
We’re building the fabric for a new, different kind of Web, where your files follow you to whichever device you happen to be working on.
from “Dropbox: Files without Borders”
by Victoria Barret, Forbes – 6/10/10
Pick a file: a photo, text document, PDF, … or anything supported on the iPad. Tap the “Open In” icon and choose from the list of available apps. You’re done.
from “Dropbox Updated for iPad, External Editing Added”
by Charlie Sorrel, Wired – 5/4/10
Dropbox is better.
Dropbox replaces:
- Emailing file attachments to yourself and other people
- Using USB drives to move files between computers
- Renaming files to keep a history of previous versions
- Complicated backup software and hardware
- And more!
Not convinced yet? Then take a look at our list of features. Otherwise, go ahead and get started!
Lifehacker posted a good explanation of ways to collaborate using Dropbox today.
Good Morning Gloucester 