Do you still use a USB stick to move files between one computer and another?
You should be using Dropbox.
Do you still email files from work to home and back again?
You should be using Dropbox.
Do your clients constantly ask you to send the same file – with Track Changes on – backwards and forwards by email?
You should be using Dropbox. And so should your client.
Do you still work on stuff that isn’t backed up? Dropbox.
Do you have more than one computer, and drive yourself crazy trying to make sure that the most up-to-date version of the correct file is on the correct machine when you need it?
Yup. You should be using Dropbox.
Dropbox is a virtual folder that sits on your computer and is quietly synced to the internet while you’re busy doing other stuff. You can use it on as many computers as you like, and it will do all the syncing so that you can forget about it.
The result is a folder you can use on your Mac just like any other; drag files in an out of it, make sub-folders in it, apply special rules to it, whatever. But at the same time it’s a magic folder, unlike any other. You can reach it from your work PC. You can give other people access to it. You can keep all your most important stuff inside it and always be sure of reaching it, no matter where you are or what computer you’re using. It’s all online if you ever need to reach it via a browser on someone else’s computer.
Dropbox is free for less than 2GB of storage; after that you pay for the storage space you need. It’s is the sync service that Mobile Me should have been. Go sign up for it right now.
(You’re reading the 2nd post in our series, 50 Essential Mac Applications. Read more.)
