Evolution Of Dropbox – From Cloud Storage Service To Collaborative Workspace!

World’s first smart workspace – that’s the tagline for the all-new Dropbox app launched just a few days ago. The message is clear, it is no longer content just being one of the world’s best and most popular cloud storage services. The San Francisco based company is aiming at becoming central to people’s day-to-day lives by offering an enterprise solution that supports workplace collaboration.

The History Of Dropbox

Dropbox was a startup launched in June 2007 under the name Evenflow.Inc—a simple but efficient means of storing and synchronizing data across different devices. Users were provided with a free Dropbox account, with fixed storage space.

The software functioned by creating a dedicated folder on the users’ computers where they could store their files. The contents of users’ folders were synchronized to the company’s servers and any other devices that had Dropbox installed on them. Paid subscribers availed 2 terabytes of storage space, compared to the 2 gigabytes storage space offered to free subscribers, along with several advanced sharing features.

By April 2009, Dropbox had over 1 million registered users. By September 2009, that number had doubled! Today, Dropbox’s user base exceeds 500 million users worldwide, including 13.6 million paid subscriptions. In June 2019, a preview version of ‘the new’ Dropbox was launched.

This new Dropbox allowed for the integration of all of the users’ work tools to enhance workspace organization while keeping away from the distracting aspects of similar services. Earlier this week, they started rolling out the full version of the new Dropbox to users around the globe.

The Idea Behind The Change Of Dropbox

For years, Dropbox managed to rule users’ hearts amidst stiff competition from tech bigwigs like Microsoft and Google because it excelled at what it promised – providing a basic storage service with excellent synchronization. But changing times and technologies have created some challenges that workplace technology has yet to answer satisfyingly. Present-day employees deal with data and interactions across multiple, unconnected platforms that can make organization difficult and time-consuming.

The new Dropbox is based on the idea of a smarter workspace—a platform that syncs all work-related tools and data, so users don’t have to continuously switch between platforms to access work-related files they need to perform everyday tasks. In addition, it provides a sole, common platform for communication between all the people involved in a project. So, the new version doesn’t just store data and save time, it also improves workplace coordination, communication, organization, and productivity.

Noteworthy Changes In The New Dropbox

Dropbox spaces

Dropbox’s shared folders have been renamed as Dropbox Spaces, a collaborative workspace optimized with machine intelligence that offers several different file search and organization options. Dropbox Spaces brings all local files together with the cloud data so teams working on a common project can access all related data from one place.

Users can also transfer data from cloud services like Office 365 and Google Docs to Dropbox Spaces. The spaces are available for mobile devices at the Play Store and App Store while desktop users can download it at dropbox.com.

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File transfer

Using Dropbox transfer, users can share files as large as 100 MB with others. Users that have a Pro/Business account can share files as large as 100GB. The recipient doesn’t even need to have a Dropbox account. All users are provided with a shareable link once they upload a file. They also have the ability to set up expiration date, assign a password and notifications for when the shared file is downloaded by the recipient.

Search within images

The regular file/data search feature is supplemented by an AI-supported image search feature that allows users to search for specific objects within the images. For instance, users can type in keywords like ‘food’ and ‘animals’ to search for all image files that include food items and animals. This feature is compatible with PNG, JPG and GIF files.

Communication and organizational tools

The users can integrate popular organization and communication apps such as Trello, Slack, and Zoom into Dropbox Spaces. This means users can participate in a Zoom meeting, chat on Slack and make notes to Trello cards without needing to exit their Dropbox.

File access and organization

With the new version, users can preview files from their desktop even if they haven’t installed the native app on their device. The preview feature is also applicable to AutoCAD files. Users can ‘star’ important folders and files for quicker, easier identification and access. New Paper users can create, save and gain access to paper docs using Dropbox. This facility isn’t available to exist users right now but is expected to be made available in the coming weeks.

Expectations from the new Dropbox

Some users might view Dropbox’s recent upgrades as a dissociation from the simplicity and efficacy that endeared users to the service in the first place. But the new version was introduced is smart, time-saving features can reduce individual work-load and stress, improve employee interaction and coordination. This can revolutionize work-life and performance across industries such as construction, media, and manufacturing by providing a big boost to overall productivity!

These are the noteworthy changes that the new Dropbox has to offer to its users. See the source for more details.