I got Dropbox mainly for
collaboration (sharing datasets and R files), and
now I use it as the central storage location for
all my photos - they go straight from the card
(which is then cleared to make room) to Dropbox
through it's automatic transfer function. I have
had no problems, although the occasional horror
story of individual files being lost without a
trace has prompted me to start uploading them to a
photoblog.
I use Chrome sync[h] but because the computers I
use are generally somewhat slow (especially with
the number of tabs I am in the habit of opening) I
don't often use the extensions that are
synchronized. I am not impressed with the bookmark
sync[h], as old folders that have been deleted on
one computer are often restored from another. Then
again, I have somewhat given up hope on keeping
track of things I want to investigate with
bookmarks anyway, as I create just too many. To-do
lists have supplanted them for the most part; I
still use Chrome's "save this window as a
folder-full of bookmarks" function to save a
browsing/work session for a time when my computer
is less bogged down.
For the most part, though, I have been trying to
eliminate the need for backups altogether. As a
student with not much budget for purchasing
memory, and one that uses temporarily loaned
computers and ones that break after only a year or
two of use, I find it much easier to use online
services for most program and data storage - using
Google Docs rather than Word or Open Office, for
instance. It makes collaboration and sharing a lot
easier, too - I can worry less about file formats.
To pick another example, instead of using iTunes
or WinAmp or VLC (although I also have the latter
for miscellaneous purposes) with a music library I
use Grooveshark.
There are still many things that need to be
offline due to the paucity of Internet access in
my house and sometimes at school, but many things
can just be re-found - it is easier for me to
re-download my ebooks, and various programs
(Pidgin, GIMP, Inkscape, Notepad++, Chrome of
course, a tuner program, and others including
those mentioned above [Dropbox and VLC]) than to
find and transfer them on a jumpdrive or such.
However, I noticed I have also taken increasingly
to putting all my files in one place - a folder on
the desktop - rather than using My Documents. I
even run programs that do not need to alter the
registry and therefore self-install, such as
tkMOO, from the desktop. With all this centrally
located it is easier to pick up and move shop
should I need to.
And now I have a website I can put stuff I don't
mind being public in one place, too.
This all might be oblique to your question since I
am not using the pay Dropbox, or Dropbox in a big
way at all.
-Arlo James Barnes