Dropbox is an amazing service: it's like a DVR in that once you start using it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. Best of all, a 2 GB Dropbox account is FREE. Dropbox is already one of the most popular tools in a computer nerd's toolbox - it's starting to blow up into a phenomenon, so here's why you should jump in and start using it right now.What is Dropbox?
Dropbox is like a flash drive that lives on the Internet. Once you install Dropbox, it creates a Dropbox folder on your computer. Any files you put in this folder are securely uploaded to the Dropbox server.
Free Backup
Since any files in the Dropbox folder are also copied into your secure Dropbox account on the Internet, it servers as a wonderful backup system for your files. If your hard drive crashes or you lose your laptop, your Dropbox files are still safe and sound and can be accessed by you from any other computer or Internet device.
So at the very least, Dropbox is a way for you to backup critical files for free!
Syncing between computers
If you use more than one computer, this is where Dropbox will change your life. Install Dropbox on your work computer, then install it on your home computer. Any files you put into your Dropbox folder will instantly and automatically be synced to both computers! You will never have to use a USB Flash drive again. You will never have to email files to yourself. Just plop it into Dropbox, and you're set!
Even better, you can keep your entire Documents folder in Dropbox. That way, whenever you work on any document, you can make changes on any of your computers and it will save the changes to all of your computers. No hassle, no worrying about which version you are working on - it's the same file, automatically synced between computers.
It doesn't even matter if you have a Windows PC at work and a Mac at home - Dropbox works across all kinds of computers.
Essential for Mobile devices
If you have a smartphone or tablet computer, Dropbox makes them exponentially more useful. There are Dropbox apps for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. So you can snap a photo on your phone, copy it to Dropbox, and it will instantly be available for viewing on your computer or iPad. Need to get a PDF on your phone? Just copy it into your Dropbox and you're done.
I would go so far as to say that Dropbox is the missing file system for your iPad,
And more...
Dropbox has many other features: quick sharing, so you can instantly and easily share single files to other Dropbox users. Or versioning, which allows you to revert to prior versions of your documents in case you make a mistake.
Have I mentioned that Dropbox is free? There are other services that compete with Dropbox, but at this point, none offer the range of services and ease of use that Dropbox does. I'm interested to see how Microsoft will improve it's Skydrive over the next year, how Apple revamps its iDisk to compete, and whether Google will finally release the long rumored GDrive service. My guess is that they are all feverishly trying to acquire the whole Dropbox company - it's that good.
Our recommendation: give it a try.
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