Steve Jobs was right: Dropbox is a feature, not a product

It's a feature, but it's not necessarily a feature I can see any OS provider committing to providing properly. Because the really really really important part of Dropbox, for me, is that it's the same cloud storage syncing across <i>several</i> OSes.<p>Essentially, I am unconvinced that Apple/Microsoft/whoever wants to write a wonderfully transparent cross-platform experience which might, to an extent, subvert their own core platform.

Where I work, Dropbox (and its folder sharing feature) has completely replaced Sharepoint for storing, managing and distributing corporate documents. Just think about the significance of that for a moment.

Deep iCloud integration into BOTH iOS and OS X is what makes iCloud incredible. Unfortunately Dropbox can't achieve this on Apple's platforms.<p>What Dropbox must accomplish is iCloud-level integration in Android. Pictures, app state, music... it all needs to automatically sync between phone, tablet, and desktop. Dropbox knows this--they're already cutting deals with HTC to be a fundamental part of Sense UI.<p>But iOS is lost for Dropbox. They will never be able to achieve the kind of deep integration that Apple will build with iCloud.

I am not sure I understand why the author feels that the 'perfect syncing' tool has to be free, or close to it? Syncing files between multiple devices isn't something everyone needs, or wants, so it's a premium function. For my needs, Dropbox is perfect.

It's interesting that he says:<p>"There’s no way, as far as I know, to keep my IM windows synced between devices."<p>Trillian introduced this feature around a year ago:<p><a href="http://blog.trillian.im/?p=1949" rel="nofollow">http://blog.trillian.im/?p=1949</a><p><a href="http://arstechnica.com/software/news/2011/03/hands-on-trillian-conversation-sync-is-mobile-messaging-panacea.ars" rel="nofollow">http://arstechnica.com/software/news/2011/03/hands-on-trilli...</a><p>It's sometimes buggy, but it's definitely the first client to offer such a feature.

Dropbox does 1 thing beautifully – sharing and syncing files across different platforms. Alot of people are over looking the sharing aspect.<p>That’s it and that’s all it needs to be. It doesn’t try to be all flashy and start adding more features on top of a core and proven principle. No it doesn’t need to start syncing screens. It doesn’t need to sync your drive states. It doesn’t need to start syncing your calendar. Etc etc.<p>It's more akin to a service than a feature. And there's nothing wrong with being a service!

Of course, in the Jobsian view of the World, everything is a feature and there are no 3rd party products.

It's not a feature, it's not a product, it's a platform.