Month: March 2016

HTML and CSS Experience

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I want to say that I learned HTML and CSS before this on my own and for another class. Both these coding languages got me interested in learning other languages such as JQuery, javascript, and C++. With my first experience with HTML I learned about the skeleton of how web pages work. Everything needs a tag such as paragraphs, links, and images so it could work. It is very importantly that they are closed properly so the code doesn’t mess up. Something new I learned is that other coding languages are embedded in HTML; I wasn’t sure how they connected before. CSS is what really makes the web page look appealing. Every element has their own div which can get a bit confusing if you want to style a div in another div.

Dropbox Current Events & Reading Summary 1

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The article I read was Fancy an Anti-Piracy Threat…. To Your Dropbox Email Address? It was about that an anti-piracy company called BREIN sent emails to people involved with sharing eBooks privately through Dropbox. BREIN obtained a court order against a man who granted access to his copyrighted eBooks on internet forums. His fine was 50,000 euros. BREIN found out who was involved since the Dropbox account of the man had their emails. So BREIN sent emails to those Dropbox users, saying that “your email is visible to third parties” and that they were downloading copyrighted content from an illegal source. These scary emails worked because sharing emails through the forums almost stopped.

Some of Manovich’s 8 principles of new media can apply to Dropbox. Manovich’s fourth principle was that new media is old cultural conventions mixed with software. The old cultural convention was to physically see a document or picture by giving it to someone. However, with Dropbox, that document can easily be accessed anywhere. Furthermore, emailing files back and forth was the old, but Dropbox allows a group of people to share a space for files that can be updated automatically. Another principle is the fifth one which says, “it will ‘destroy the natural relationship between humans and the world'” (Manovich: 5). Dropbox does eliminate the distance because anyone with internet can go on Dropbox and see their files. It’s cloud storage so it’s accessible all the time. Collaboration of editing files with people from different locations is possible.

Dropbox does have some of O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 characteristics. It uses collective intelligence because businesses and companies can share files. So having more users is who it’s mostly catered to. Although, it is fine to use Dropbox for yourself without sharing. Dropbox can be used on more than one device such as desktop application, going to the website, or using the app on a mobile device. It’s user-friendly since it’s easy to use. On desktop a user just needs to put files in the folder and it’s in the cloud.

Rozenweig and Castells mention ideas that contribute to the historical development of Dropbox. Rozenweig explained how ARPANET managed to connect computers together. Dropbox users can connect together by their email addresses. Now sharing and connecting with one another is so convenient. Castells said that technology was not a random occurrence; we make better technology to fix problems of the time. Co-founder of Dropbox, Drew Houston, repeatedly forgot his USB when studying at MIT which inspired him to solve this problem. He developed a cloud storage so he could access his files from anywhere.

Dropbox was built using Python as its primary coding language. The problem when building Dropbox was that each platform required different programming tools so the same code had to be written multiple times. However, Python allowed the code to be written once so it could run everywhere. Additionally, the engineering team tested Dropbox on platforms such as Windows, Macintosh, iPhone, and Android.

Dropbox has characteristics of social media. The generated content are the files a user uploads. As seen from the article, anyone can participate by providing their email address. The service is free and it is always online. It is highly interactive since most people go on to upload or download the content.

I think that Dropbox exemplifies the “eversion”. For example, my friend asked me to share my PDFs with him. I tried to upload it through email as an attachment, but the files were too large. So I immediately went to Dropbox because I knew it could hold large files. Dropbox has become the place we go to so we can send our files to someone else. Also, I see that Dropbox is integrated into other apps such as “PDF Expert.” I can edit my PDFs using my Dropbox account. Maybe Dropbox is involved with more third parties so it is becoming more present in our lives.

Castells is in favor of technological determinism which is that technology controls us. I think that Dropbox has some control, but not to the point where we are dependent on it. It makes life more convenient by providing an easily accessible cloud storage, but that doesn’t completely replace traditional methods like using a USB. It only replaces email when a file is too large. There are also competitors such as Google drive or Onedrive. Businesses and companies can be dependent on it because it’s a centralized space for their files.

Dropbox

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When and where was the company or tool created, developed, launched?
Dropbox was created in June 2007, but it officially launched in 2008 at TechCrunch50 which is an annual technology conference. It is headquartered in San Franciso, California.
https://www.quora.com/How-was-Dropbox-created

Who is responsible for creating it? If several people are vying for the title of inventor, explain this here.
Dropbox was co-founded by MIT students, Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. Houston repeatedly forgot his USB flash drive when he studied at MIT. He had experienced problems with internet lag and large files. Ferdowsi helped him start up the company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropbox_(service)

What is the purpose of this tool/company? How is it used?
Dropbox is basically a cloud-storage service. Users can store files such as photos, videos, documents, and files. They can be retrieved and accessed through the site or the app on a mobile device.

Who uses it? How many consumers/users/subscribers? Demographics? Specific geographic areas?
Dropbox has about 200 million users and 4 million businesses. According to Geek.com, 32 percent of users are from the U.S. By platform, 66 percent of users are windows only users. According to Alexa.com, there are more female than male users, majority are college students, and browsing location is mostly from work.
http://www.geek.com/news/dropbox-reaches-4-million-users-shares-some-stats-1095172/
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/dropbox.com

How is this tool monetized? How do the owners make money?
Dropbox makes money with subscription services. It uses a freemium model which means that the basic service of 2 GB of space is free, but an upgrade for 100 GB of space costs money. For one user it costs $10 per a month. Up to five users can use Itan account which would cost $15 a month.
http://vator.tv/news/2014-01-23-how-does-dropbox-make-money

How have companies and organizations used it as a marketing tool?
Companies use Dropbox to share information within the company. Their data can be private and updated in real time. Small businesses use it as a tool to deal with customers and contractors.

If possible, cite an example of this tool used successfully for communication or marketing.
A company that was satisfied with using Dropbox was a fashion design company called BCB Max Azria Group, LLC. Before Dropbox, they had to share designs through physical paper which can get hefty. They were happy with using Dropbox because they could easily share their digital PDF designs through Dropbox. Large files can be shared to their clients.
Dropbox. (n.d.). Dropbox Business helps BCBGMAXAZRIA, LLC make couture style accessible every day. Retrieved from Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/business/customers/case-study-bcbg

What are this tools most important contributions to society? Why is it important?
Dropbox is important to share large files to those who are far away. It can be used as a backup to store files in case one loses their original files. It’s much easier to share information within a business. Users can access it from anywhere. Dropbox was one of the first companies to have cloud storage. So their contribution to society was to introduce a new way to share files.

What are the controversies surrounding or involving it?
Dropbox has controversies involving security. Some users were concerned that Dropbox would give away their information to law enforcement. Dropbox is aware of the concerns and they are trying to keep their customers’ data secure. Dropbox manages the encryption keys, but customers are free to manage it themselves. The problem is that if a customer loses their encryption key then Dropbox has no way of decryption. In other words, Dropbox can’t help the user recover their data.

Would you use this tool in the future? Would you recommend using it as a part of an organization or company’s social media efforts and under what conditions?
I would use Dropbox if I was involved with a company that used it. For a job it would be important to share files online with coworkers. I would not share personal information such as passwords, social security, etc. Personally, I would not use it to store my own files. I use Onedrive on MSN to store my files. So I don’t really see myself switching to a different cloud storage.