A little less than a year ago, my husband found this file sharing service and persistently talked to me about it, as \u2018we need this.\u2019\u00a0 Have I mentioned how resistant I can be about new technology?\u00a0 I didn\u2019t mind the old school way of e-mailing each other attachments.\u00a0 Or worse case, I\u2019d paste the information into Google Docs where he could log in and see it (minus formatting, of course).\u00a0 Yet, did you notice the phrase \u201cdidn\u2019t mind\u201d?\u00a0 If I were working with someone, that phrase alone would make me pause and ask some follow-up questions.\u00a0 Is it worth settling for a \u201cdon\u2019t mind\u201d?\u00a0 I\u2019m on the lookout for ways that it can be simple and maybe even enjoyable.<\/p>\n
Dropbox<\/a>, this file sharing service my husband was so excited about is just that \u2013 simple and enjoyable to use.\u00a0 It\u2019s also free, at least for anything under 2GB, which works for us without problems.\u00a0 You can also \u201cearn\u201d additional free space by having friends join.<\/p>\n One of the reasons it\u2019s easy is that is puts a folder, appropriately called Dropbox, on your desktop if you use Windows, or under Places in the Finder on a Mac.\u00a0 You take any files you want and put them into the Dropbox folder.<\/p>\n What\u2019s so special about that?<\/p>\n Well, first you can install Dropbox on any computer and it connects your files with each computer.\u00a0 This is not all though \u2013 it also works on most smart phones.\u00a0 There\u2019s also the ability to access it on the web if you want.\u00a0 This also means that you can work on a file even when you don\u2019t have an Internet connection, and it will sync when there\u2019s a connection again and your work is then available everywhere again.<\/p>\n Second, you can share folders with anyone.\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to be working with a group, you can create a folder that you all have access to.\u00a0 What this means, is that each person can work on any given file; you won\u2019t need to track which version is the most recent.\u00a0 This was the important aspect for my husband so that we could coordinate various files.\u00a0 Although I\u2019ve not tried to use it, Dropbox provides access to old versions of a file for 30 days with the free version, and longer for the paid versions.\u00a0 It also apparently will create two files if there is a conflict, like two people making modifications at the same time, so it works hard to protect the data.<\/p>\n It\u2019s funny to me that many reviews of Dropbox group it with online back-up services like Mozy<\/a> or Carbonite<\/a>.\u00a0 Although it certainly offers that service, it functions uniquely as it offers a free file sharing service.\u00a0 Certainly at the free 2GB option, it\u2019s not going to be superior for backing up most files on your computer.<\/p>\n Also, since you\u2019re likely to put files in it that are in progress or important to you, it offers the security that they will be there when you need them.\u00a0 This is exactly where Dropbox excels in my opinion.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want access to all my files from every device, yet there are many files I\u2019m working with or want access to, and Dropbox gives me that access easily and simply.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know about you, but I\u2019m not backing up all my files each time I modify them, so Dropbox keeps them safe until I\u2019m ready to back them up elsewhere.\u00a0 It also means that when I\u2019m on the go, but have some time, I can open Dropbox and get things done.\u00a0 It allows my husband and I to make lists for shopping or financial things.<\/p>\n There are additional services that I\u2019ve not used or explored much.\u00a0 You can e-mail a link to a file or folder to someone so they can access the files you want to share.\u00a0 The photo folder apparently creates a public gallery for slideshow sharing of your pictures.<\/p>\n I mentioned earlier that it would sync your files across devices.\u00a0 Sometimes this takes time.\u00a0 My mom was frustrated at one point when I uploaded a video we\u2019d taken because it took a long time before it was available in our shared folder.\u00a0 It was a big file though and cannot imagine how long it would have taken to attach and mail only to need to be downloaded later.\u00a0 You need to be aware of the fact that it can take time for files to get synced to the cloud, and then synced to the various locations.\u00a0 I\u2019ve found this to rarely be an issue, and I\u2019ve been quite pleased with the speed of syncing.<\/p>\n This is a must have service if you use multiple devices or work with other people on files.\u00a0 Since my only minor struggle has been an occasional delay in syncing, I\u2019ve found no other drawbacks to Dropbox.\u00a0 That alone seems extraordinary!\u00a0 Consider how you might improve your productivity by getting this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A superb file sharing service \u2013 Dropbox \u2013 and it\u2019s unique in many ways. 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