Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!


Who's using Box.com?
New on LowEndTalk? Please Register and read our Community Rules.

All new Registrations are manually reviewed and approved, so a short delay after registration may occur before your account becomes active.

Who's using Box.com?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2111260/box-to-go-public-hoping-to-raise-250m.html#jump

Those free 50GB must be taking a toll on their bank account.

«1

Comments

  • I've used it once, but honestly, I prefer Dropbox. I think that most of their users don't use the full 50GB, so they can offer it for free.

  • I have an account but rarely use it. Like infolink said.

  • pbalazs123pbalazs123 Member
    edited March 2014

    @mywisp

    We are already have a thread about this:

    lowendtalk.com/discussion/comment/510758

  • mikhomikho Member, Host Rep

    I use it.

  • blackblack Member

    I use it, webdav on VPSes with low disk work work great :)

  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    I am using it to upload pictures from vacations - so far so good :)

  • I use it. I prefer it over Dropbox, mainly the fact I have 25gb at Box and 5.8gb at Dropbox. Plus, it's about the same speed for me as Dropbox is. No complaints here :)

  • Only if they didn't have that 250mb filesize limit, i would use it a lot

  • I use it, but not as frequently as Dropbox and Copy. The limit of 250mb filesize limit and limited Mac OS synchronizing functionality make Box not as good as others IMHO.

  • FritzFritz Veteran

    I'm using it. I think it's good but I prefer Dropbox or GE.TT

  • fanfan Veteran

    Public sharing ls limited to 10gb/month for free accounts so it's only good for backing up small files IMO.

  • Webdav + large storage from box is pretty awesome. I use it to backup my laptop. Also, you can always split up files into 250mb chunks.

  • What about the issue with Box.com losing cash from their current business model? Would that have a major impact to Box users worldwide?

  • I think eventually someone at Box is going find a way to get money from us freeloaders. They can do it either through limitations or offer new features you can't turn down.

  • PickyPicky Member
    edited March 2014

    Box.com is a lot different from Dropbox - you'll understand this as soon as you want to collaborate with your co-workers and decide to use group drive or company drive. But then again, the best free option for that is neither Box nor Dropbox but Bitrix24 IMHO (free groupdrive for up to 12 people, 5GB limit, files can be up to 2GB)

  • I use Box, but like others here, I use DropBox more often. Really hope Box can remove the file size limit.

  • @Picky said:
    Box.com is a lot different from Dropbox - you'll understand this as soon as you want to collaborate with your co-workers and decide to use group drive or company drive. But then again, the best free option for that is neither Box nor Dropbox but Bitrix24 IMHO (free groupdrive for up to 12 people, 5GB limit, files can be up to 2GB)

    Copy.com does this now. Shared storage, everyone sharing, shares usage (4 users sharing 20 GB / 5GB a user). I have 35GB of storage which means the maximum file size for me is 35GB.

    (20GB Signup Link) (Shameless referral)

  • PickyPicky Member

    Does Copy.com give you online multiuser editing for free plans like Bitrix24? Maximum file size of 35GB sounds mighty awesome.

  • @Picky said:
    Does Copy.com give you online multiuser editing for free plans like Bitrix24? Maximum file size of 35GB sounds mighty awesome.

    Not 35GB exactly, there is no file limit. Online multiuser editing? Hmmm... like Google Drive? I would say not like Google Drive, but you can share files and sync to multiple computers (so you could edit via Microsoft Office).

    Have you checked out Google Drive for that kind of thing? Drive supports up to a 1TB in files size (why have a limit?) and you get 15GB free. Although I have 25GB for some odd reason.

  • PickyPicky Member

    Google doesn't have free group drives. As soon as you want to use group or company drives, you have to pay up.

  • @Picky said:
    Google doesn't have free group drives. As soon as you want to use group or company drives, you have to pay up.

    Why not simply share a folder? That's what I do. Everything in the folder is shared (Google documents don't take any storage space).

  • PickyPicky Member

    Because you can't do things with shared folder that you can do with shared drives. Let's say the three of us are working on a same document and have shared group or company drive. I have to fly somewhere. I take my computer with me. There's no internet connection, but I can still work on the files on my PC because the desktop app synchronizes files between desktop and cloud. I change file on my PC and as soon as I get back online, the files in the cloud and on PCs of all parties involved are synchronized. This is a must have feature if you travel and you might catch 5 minutes worth of free wifi here and there. Box.com charges for this feature along with others. I know of only one provider that does it for free (and for 12 people), though it sounds that Copy.com works the same way and is free for five people with more storage. Does Copy have desktop app that work like a group drive in the same manner as http://www.bitrix24.com/about/blogs/community-blog/new_level_in_collaborative_work_with_bitrix24_drive.php ?

  • SplitIceSplitIce Member, Host Rep

    @Picky

    Google Docs vs Sharing a doc / docx....

    If you need to collaborate live use Google Docs
    If you need features & good UX use Office (for now).

    The real long term competition will be if Google creates a realistic competing product with Microsoft Office first, or if Microsoft adds live collaboration first.

  • PickyPicky Member

    I am using Bitrix24 personally. One of the reasons is that I can use both Google Docs and MS Office and Office Online (formerly MS Office Web Apps) when working on documents, so I don't have to make choice. I have MS Office suite installed on my PC, so I use that when in office, I use Google Docs at home and my other PC has Office Online, so I occasionally use that as well. This topic was originally about Box.com vs Dropbox and it's important two understand that these two use totally different approaches - if you only want to share files, it makes no difference, but if you want to collaborate on files - it's got to be Box.com (or Bitrix24, which is better in my opinion). There's a great article about Box.com in Recode where they say that Box.com wants to replace SharePoint and SharePoint is about document collaboration - not file sharing http://recode.net/2014/03/26/levies-strategy-for-box-attack-all-industries/

    There was another great article "file sharing without collaboration is dead" and I personally agree with the sentiment.

    Dropbox seems to understand that - they recently bought startup that does business chat http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/17/dropbox-acquires-zulip-a-stealthy-workplace-chat-solution-still-in-private-beta/

    That's a smart move, but they are way behind, because if you look at the most advanced file sharing platforms like Bitrix24 of Box (for businesses, that is), not only you can share files or collaborate on them, you can use your Bitrix24.Drive to have a chat session right there or Skype type video conference - http://www.bitrix24.com/about/blogs/community-blog/apps_update_12_03.php

    It might seem like a minor feature, but it really grows onto you - when you don't understand something in the file that you just worked on with another person, you simply make a video call and say 'Hey, how come you have this and this in your Excel file'.

  • SplitIceSplitIce Member, Host Rep
    edited March 2014

    @Picky
    Unfortunately for those in industry these technologies are still far too raw. Give us MS Office with LIVE collab and we could jump on it. All these suites lack those features that people have grown accustomed to, and for those reasons they are non-competitors.

  • PickyPicky Member

    I don't think this is the issue. Microsoft has MS Office and SharePoint and OneDrive (formerly Skydrive) and Yammer, but go to any small business and ask them how they work and collaborate on documents, and it'll never be Microsoft. Yes, they might have MS Word installed, but that's about it. That's why Box and Bitrix24 have been growing so fast and I find it likely that Box will replace SharePoint, because if you ever worked with it, you know it's hell.

  • SplitIce said: Microsoft adds live collaboration first.

    Microsoft has it built into all Office 2013 applications. You can edit a file with others.

  • Picky said: Does Copy have desktop app that work like a group drive in the same manner as

    Copy does have a app, the last edit will be shared (with visioning if a restore is required because of conflictions). It is compatible with all major OS and is designed to be install and run. They believe that that app should be completely transparent.

    Picky said: that's why Box and Bitrix24 have been growing so fast and I find it likely that Box will replace SharePoint

    Everyone is attempting to replace SharePoint with a cheap alternative and then compare the alternative to SharePoint. We seem to forget that Microsoft invented SharePoint and has been a leader in collaboration software since the start. Microsoft is decades ahead of the competition and has the market share. It seems that we should forget about SharePoint and rather compare each alternative as a equal to Sharepoint rather than just an alternative.

  • PickyPicky Member

    Microsoft has it built into all Office 2013 applications. You can edit a file with others.

    Do you know anyone who actually does? Personally, I don't.

    Everyone is attempting to replace SharePoint with a cheap alternative and then compare the alternative to SharePoint. We seem to forget that Microsoft invented SharePoint and has been a leader in collaboration software since the start. Microsoft is decades ahead of the competition and has the market share. It seems that we should forget about SharePoint and rather compare each alternative as a equal to Sharepoint rather than just an alternative.

    That's true, but most people don't use SharePoint at all, even if they can get it for free (Foundation). Why? Because SharePoint sucks. Why did Microsoft buy Yammer for over a billion dollars? Because they understand that Yammer users will not use SharePoint. Box and Bitrix24, especially Bitrix24 are in perfect position (feature wise and price wise, because free is pretty cheap) to take clients who'd never use SharePoint or who have SharePoint but don't use it or have it and are unhappy with it.

    That is not to say that SharePoint will die out - MS is a dominant force in the enterprise software niche and they will stay there for a long long while.

    RedmondPie has published salary survey last year - IT professionals made on average 3% more than a year before, but SharePoint admin salaries fell by 7%. That's a huge drop. Why? Because SharePoint is not relevant for most organizations

  • SilvengaSilvenga Member
    edited March 2014

    Picky said: Do you know anyone who actually does? Personally, I don't.

    I have colleagues that do - helpful with Visio graphs since I know of no online alternative of the same quality. I am probably one of the few thousands of developers that use Object Role Modeling (ORM) (superior to UML in every way), and there is no alternative to Microsoft Visio.

    Picky said: most people don't use SharePoint at all

    Most high end companies use SharePoint. The smaller companies would not benefit from SharePoint (the licensing cost alone).

    Picky said: SharePoint admin salaries fell by 7%.

    The lines are burning between the different job titles. For example, software developers are now expected to do the jobs of Q&A's. No one goes into the college to be a SharePoint admin, all the SharePoint admins are already hired into large companies - and frankly no one will hire a new SharePoint admin because there are better ones. SharePoint is relevant, just not to anyone that we work with or possibly care to work for.

    I personally don't like SharePoint on principle (hater for MS), but I also understand that it is a tool and has many uses.

    PS: I love these eloquent discussions, thank you @Picky.

Sign In or Register to comment.