| Introduction | | | | available locally should be apparent: access to |
| Apple's service is a wonderful thing, no doubt. It | | | | those files is a lot faster. Be it reading them, |
| offers painless synchronization of your Keychain, | | | | writing to them, renaming or moving them around. |
| Bookmarks, Contacts, E-Mails, Photos, and other | | | | As soon as you change a file that resides in your |
| things between your Apple computers or your | | | | Dropbox folder, the Dropbox software will copy |
| computer(s) and your iPhone. Or you can use it to | | | | the changed file to the backup server, and next |
| host your own (static) website and photo albums. | | | | time you start Dropbox on one of your other |
| At 99$ a year, however, the service can be a | | | | computers the latest version of your files will be |
| tad hard on your purse. That doesn't mean that | | | | downloaded to that computer, making them |
| the service is not worth the money, by no | | | | available for you to work on again. |
| means, in my opinion 99$ is a very reasonable | | | | Also, Dropbox offers an excellent web interface |
| price considering everything you get (web hosting | | | | that allows you access your files from any |
| along can cost you more). Yet, if there are | | | | computer that has a browser installed. No need to |
| services that are cheaper or even better, why | | | | install the Dropbox client on your friend's |
| not give them a try? | | | | computer or the computer in the internet cafe, |
| One such service is Dropbox - an iDisk alternative | | | | just to download a textfile you need for a few |
| you definitely should take into consideration. | | | | minutes. |
| Dropbox | | | | Finally, Dropbox allows you to share files with |
| What is Dropbox? | | | | friends. Simply mark a file or a folder in Dropbox's |
| Simply put: Dropbox lets you save file in a | | | | web interface for sharing, enter e-mail addresses |
| particular folder on your computer and then takes | | | | of the people you want to share the files with, |
| those files and then copies those files on a server | | | | and they will be able to view and download the |
| - in other words: Dropbox is an online backup | | | | files you shared. |
| solution. The really nifty part, however, is that | | | | Worried about security? No need! Dropbox |
| you can access those files from every other | | | | encrypts your files, making it literally impossible |
| computer you have the Dropbox software | | | | for anybody to view your private data. |
| installed. Dropbox will synchronize all your files | | | | Summary |
| between the computers you use. | | | | If you are looking for a fast and reliable |
| The big difference between iDisk and Dropbox is | | | | alternative to iDrive, Dropbox should be your |
| that your files are available on your computer's | | | | choice. Its feature set is nearly perfect and you |
| harddisk when using Dropbox - as opposed to | | | | will definitely be surprised at the sheer speed of |
| iDisk, where your files are on one of Apple's | | | | file uploading and downloading Dropbox is able to |
| servers. The advantage of having your files | | | | achieve. |