Dropbox Evolution
My husband and I have been using Dropbox for quite awhile now. We love it as an easy way for us to get files back and forth to each other... via his PC and my Mac (yes, duel platform is important to us!). Admittedly, we used it mostly for personal stuff at first, like putting the pictures of our kids in there so my husband could make these his desktop background. Or even sharing those pictures with other family members & friends.
But what surprised me was how often we began to use it for work. More and more often on weekends he worked on a file at home on my laptop, and then dropped it in Dropbox so he could access it on his computer at work (For those of you wondering... yes, I lugged my laptop back and forth while his stayed docked at his desk.). Or the number of times one of us would be wrapped up in a project and would remember the other had been dealing with something similar so we would email the other asking for the articles and research to be dropped in Dropbox for the other to use.
Then, began the true evolution in using it for work. At work, I have a limit on my email size. I am often exchanging files with other people with similar jobs. The ability to share files with other Dropbox users has prevented many an email meltdown. There have been many times I have arrived at schools and been unable to use my own laptop on the existing network for various reasons; having pre-loaded my files needed on Dropbox, I can hop on any available networked computer and access the files needed for the meeting or presentation. No more worrying about carrying a flash drive or cd to shift materials over!
The addition of tie-in apps has evolved our use even further. For example, we have JotNot Pro on our iPhones (it's not in the Market, yet, so it's not on my Android phone..). I no longer worry about copying down notes or brainstorms that are created on a whiteboard. I instead take a snapshot using JotNot and it is loaded to my Dropbox, where I can share it with others that might want it. Surprisingly, the picture is very good quality... and I am still using an iPhone 3G.
The latest evolution is my use of DROPitTOme to allow non-Dropbox users to share files with me. Wow! This has taken away all accessibility issues. I can get what I need when I need it from the person I need it from, with any technology I have. While I don't use it as often as other features, I can distinctly remember times I've asked for a file and not been able to get it. Those experiences will be gone, now.
If you haven't yet seen it, I encourage you to check it out: http://db.tt/Ljn0tEn
But what surprised me was how often we began to use it for work. More and more often on weekends he worked on a file at home on my laptop, and then dropped it in Dropbox so he could access it on his computer at work (For those of you wondering... yes, I lugged my laptop back and forth while his stayed docked at his desk.). Or the number of times one of us would be wrapped up in a project and would remember the other had been dealing with something similar so we would email the other asking for the articles and research to be dropped in Dropbox for the other to use.
Then, began the true evolution in using it for work. At work, I have a limit on my email size. I am often exchanging files with other people with similar jobs. The ability to share files with other Dropbox users has prevented many an email meltdown. There have been many times I have arrived at schools and been unable to use my own laptop on the existing network for various reasons; having pre-loaded my files needed on Dropbox, I can hop on any available networked computer and access the files needed for the meeting or presentation. No more worrying about carrying a flash drive or cd to shift materials over!
The addition of tie-in apps has evolved our use even further. For example, we have JotNot Pro on our iPhones (it's not in the Market, yet, so it's not on my Android phone..). I no longer worry about copying down notes or brainstorms that are created on a whiteboard. I instead take a snapshot using JotNot and it is loaded to my Dropbox, where I can share it with others that might want it. Surprisingly, the picture is very good quality... and I am still using an iPhone 3G.
The latest evolution is my use of DROPitTOme to allow non-Dropbox users to share files with me. Wow! This has taken away all accessibility issues. I can get what I need when I need it from the person I need it from, with any technology I have. While I don't use it as often as other features, I can distinctly remember times I've asked for a file and not been able to get it. Those experiences will be gone, now.
If you haven't yet seen it, I encourage you to check it out: http://db.tt/Ljn0tEn
