More Dropbox: From Sharing to Undoing Mistakes to Backups

In my previous posting, I extolled the virtues of Dropbox as a way of having my everyday files automatically available to me on every computing device I control (my desktop computer at work, my desktop computer at home, my iPad, and my smartphone).   This means that I can start working on a document at home, save it (in a normal way), and then continue at work where I left off, without having to deal with wondering if I am working from the most current copy or with carrying around USB flash drives (which I've been known to lose for over a year in the back seat of my car).

But Dropbox gives me more than that.  First, it gives me the ability to create a shared folder, so that I provide access to one or more other Dropbox users.  This means that we can more easily work on projects together (collaborating on documents, PowerPoint presentations, and spreadsheets), or more easily share a document to read for reference purposes.

Second, Dropbox provides a Public folder, where I can put copies of files that I want to provide links to.  Nobody else can merely browse the folder, but once a file is in the Public folder, I can right-click on it to create a shareable link that I can email to anyone I want or that I can include as a link on a website.  Earlier this year, while flying from Tampa to Columbus via Charlotte in order to speak at a conference, I was faced with the fact that weather was going to delay the first leg of my flight so that I would miss my connection, meaning that I would arrive in Columbus too late to give my first presentation.  The flight from Tampa to Charlotte had Wi-Fi, and I was able to make contact with a colleague already safely in Columbus who was willing and able to give my first talk.  But how to get him my PowerPoint slides?  By putting them into the Public folder and sending him the link.   In no time at all, he assured me that he had a copy of my presentation and was prepared to give it.  Dropbox saved the day.

Third, we're only human, and prone to make mistakes, such as accidentally deleting an important file or making an unintended change to it.  Dropbox can help you there, too.  It provides access to copies of previous versions of your files, and also to recently deleted files (in both cases, going back 30 days, although you can upgrade to the unlimited Pack-Rat feature for an additional $39/year).

Fourth, by its very nature, Dropbox serves as a kind of automatic backup service.  Whatever I put in Dropbox is going to be automatically copied into the online-available server, and then copied back down to all of my other computers.  No more worries about dead hard drives or stolen or lost mobile devices.

Did I leave out anything important?  If you're already a Dropbox user, you tell me. 

Dropbox: What Was Life Like Before I Had It?

When I look at all of the apps and online services I use (not counting search engines like Google or email services like Gmail), the one I can least imagine living without is Dropbox.  The issue here has to do with moving computer files from one computer to another.  I seem to recall that I used to use things like USB flash drives.  Yes, I have a pile of those gathering dust in my home office drawer, and I carry one around every day in my computer bag "just in case".  Before that, I think there were things like floppy disks, but I'm getting less sure as the years go by.

Yes, I could move files from one computer to another using email, but that requires some extra effort, and then I'd have to wait while things uploaded and then downloaded.  Not very efficient, eh?

So along comes Dropbox.  If you already use it, you probably can skip this posting, because you're already convinced that it's an amazing thing.  If you're not yet using it, keep reading.

OK, so I have a desktop computer at work (it happens to be a Macintosh, but this would all work just as well if it were a Windows machine, or even one running Linux).  And I have a desktop computer at home (it also happens to be a Macintosh, but again, not important in regards to Dropbox).  And I have an iPad, and I have an iPhone (but this would all work just as well if my mobile devices were running Android or the BlackBerry OS).

On the mobile devices, Dropbox installs like any typical app, while on your Windows or Mac OS X or Linux devices, Dropbox installs a folder on your system (called "Dropbox" on my Macs).  Yes, for some of you, installing software at work might be tricky, depending on your administrator privileges or how accommodating your IT staff are.

The point is, this all works much more easily if you can have Dropbox installed on your work computer.  If you can't, you can still use some features of Dropbox, because Dropbox is also an online service, and you can always login to your Dropbox account on their website and upload and download your files from it.  But personally I only need to use this feature when I'm on somebody else's computer (or on a public computer), when I need access to one of my files or when I want to save something into one of my directories.

Once you've created a free Dropbox account and installed Dropbox on the various devices you own (or that you exclusively use, such as the one at work), you'll be able to put into it any files that you want available on all of your devices.  In other words, Dropbox automatically synchronizes between your current device and your online account, and when you move to another of your devices, Dropbox checks to see if it needs to update the files on that device to keep it in sync.  This also means that you've got a form of automatic backup going on for the files you're regularly using.

Again, free.  For up to 2 gigabytes worth of stuff.  There's more to say about Dropbox, but I'll save that for my next posting, and besides, I've already said enough that you should be convinced that this is one very useful tech service.