has written a report on the fact that organizational challenges are at the heart of iCloud’s below average record:
Apple is great at building hardware and software that runs on it. But it has long struggled to build services reliant on software that runs remotely rather than on devices. While company executives say they are making progress, interviews with nearly a dozen current and former Apple employees paint a different picture.
Deep organizational issues are holding up releases and complicating products.
I’ve been an advocate, and most important a user of Apple online services (note that I don’t use the word cloud, as when I started using them, they were still referred as services) since iTools.
Despite the lack of flashy features, I’ve never had any problems with Apple’s online services. I’ve never lost any data, and to this day my old .Mac email address is impeccably spam free.
One thing is certain though. iCloud, as MobileMe, .Mac and iTools before, are not services designed for power users. They cover the basics for the average Apple user. Convenience over power, shall we say.
Yet lately something surprising happened. Even services that were meant designed for the average user (it just works) stopped working properly.
Changing the iCloud password takes you to an endless labyrinth of lost permissions, password retyping etc.
iMessage has problems reactivating when changing the iCloud password
iPhoto Library (beta) can’t even be activated on many devices/iCloud accounts. Fair enough it’s a beta, but at least you should be able to activate it.
iTunes Match is in shambles, and I’ve used it since day zero.
iCloud document sync is not at par with services like Dropbox. I’ve had problems with apps hanging or unable to upload/download large sets of documents
Trying to share across devices some PDF files is an herculean technical challenge.
Continuity works, 75% of the time. For a feature which is constantly advertised that is not a good percentage.
Maps is still a joke.
FaceTime lately has worse video quality than Skype.
iCloud Drive’s implementation suffers from the initial decision to sandbox apps and their data.
The result is that I’ve re-subscribed to Dropbox and I’m seriously thinking of getting an Evernote Premium subscription (yes sorry, I’ve been critical towards Evernote lately…) to store my notes.
I am not sure if organizational issues are the real cause here. Maybe so, but maybe there’s something more serious going on. Something that involves strategy and roadmaps.
I am really afraid that the silly yearly OS X / iOS release cycles, and new products like the Apple Watch are diverting important resources to core services.
That’s why we’re partnering with Microsoft to help you do more on your phones, tablets, and the web. Soon you’ll be able to access your Dropbox directly from Office apps, and edit Office files from the Dropbox app.
I was afraid that Dropbox had lost its vision, but this partnership shows the opposite. Lots of users need to use Office, but love syncing their docs via Dropbox rather than OneDrive.
Hats off to Microsoft too, for allowing a competitor in the document syncing business to work with their office suite.
Other services that I have taken into consideration but not used:
Amazon Drive
You may have noticed that I haven’t included Amazon Drive in this speed test. To my surprise I discovered that anymore:
The Cloud Drive desktop application is no longer available for download from the Amazon.com website. If you currently have the application installed on your computer, however, it will continue to upload files, photos, and videos to your Cloud Drive account.
Wuala
I meant to test Wuala too. However, when I installed the application, I was prompted to install the Java Runtime Environment as well. In 2014, the need to install further software in order to use an application is annoying, so I decided not to test this sync service and deleted the application straight away.
Copy.com
When registering for a free trial, I was unable to confirm the email address with the service. I tried doing it for two days in a row, and on the third I simply deleted the application from my Mac. Too bad.
Warning
I acknowledge that this testing methodology is far from being scientific.
My setup and test methods might have affected the results. Other people might even get different values, maybe opposite from what I am sharing in this post.
The results posted on this blog are for personal use only and do not constitute a definitive proof on what service is faster.
More tests, using different scenarios, different networks, and a systematic way to time events are needed to calculate average times, variance values and to draw some more informative conclusions.
In any case I hope you’ll find this post useful, happy reading.
Methodology
I have simply installed the Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, SpiderOak and Syncplicity desktop applications on my Retina MacBook Pro 15″ and started uploading/deleting files.
I’ve used two different files for my tests.
AAC file
The song was The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) by U2. Its size is 9.3MB. With this file I carried out two sets of tests:
An upload operation through the Finder by a simple copy/paste command. I did this three times for each service, on different days and at different times of the day to get more real world data.
A delete operation of the file from the services’ web interface. By executing this test, I wanted to measure how responsive the cloud service was to events triggered in the backend.
Dropbox and SpiderOak seem to be employing similar techniques to speed up multiple uploads of the same file. That is, the system checks the file’s hash and if it’s already present on the server then it simply retrieves that file from the backend instead of uploading it again. The result is that successive uploads of the same file are faster.
It also means that tests like mine fail because the second upload of the same file is always faster than the first one. Before each upload — in an effort to deceive the backend server — I edited the ID3 tags of the music file. That made the server think it was uploading a new file altogether, helping with the results of my test.
Directory with a complex folder/sub-folder structure
For this test I chose the CloudKit folder retrieved from Users –> [user] –> Library –> Caches. In my case this folder was 56.7MB in size.
The reason for using such a folder is because I wanted to assess the behaviour of all these cloud services when you try to sync a file with a deep folder/sub-folder structure.
In fact, in one of my previous tests Google Drive failed miserably when trying to sync these type of files.
Results
You invariably introduce errors when executing tests in this primitive way. For this reason I chose not to consider fractions of a second in my measurements. All data you see is rounded to the nearest second.
To minimize the effect of other applications accessing the Internet, before running my tests I also quit all browsers, Mail.app, RSS reader, Spotify, and stopped Time Machine.
– Broadband connection with 120 Mbit/s down, 10 Mbit/s up
AAC file upload speed
In this test the surprise was iCloud Drive and Syncplicity. Both services were on average the fastest to upload the 9.3MB aac file.
OneDrive’s results are bad because of the time it takes the applications to initiate the sync. In my tests it looks like the polling time for OneDrive is greater than 10 sec, which negatively impacts the overall results.
SpiderOak’s results are the worst of the bunch due to the client side encryption that this sync service carries out before uploading the file. In this case you cannot really blame SpiderOak. It all comes down to compromises: Security vs. speed.
Folder upload speed
I carried out this test only once for each service. Statistics theory says that you cannot draw any conclusion with one test only.
The reason for executing a test with a complex folder/sub-folder structure was to confirm some doubts I had after running a test a couple of years ago.
More specifically I believed that not all sync services work well with complex directory structures. The results above confirm my suspicion.
The fact that iCloud Drive is the fastest is probably a consequence of Apple optimizing this type of data transfer. All iCloud Drive data is stored as a very complex directory structure, so Apple was forced to optimize its service for it.
Google Drive on the other hand, shows the same problems I saw some time ago. It is unable to quickly upload folders with non-doc type of files and arranged in a complex way. It is obvious that Google doesn’t have any interest in optimizing this aspect of the data transfer, preferring to put its efforts on the upload of more common doc type files.
Delete speed
The delete speed test aimed at measuring how fast the desktop application responded to events started on the server. Again, iCloud Drive was among the fastest services together with Dropbox and Box.com. OneDrive and Google Drive were the two slowest services in this test.
The more I experimented with OneDrive and Google Drive and the more I thought that the desktop application for these two services is an afterthought. Something these companies had to develop but without putting too much love in it.
Conclusions
Despite the bad reputation that Apple’s cloud services have, iCloud Drive performed very well. It shows that it is tightly integrated with OS X as well.
Dropbox is the sync solution to choose if you don’t want to depend on Apple and if you need to work across platforms. Two of the biggest names in cloud computing Microsoft and Google also show that they decided to invest more on the server side of their solutions rather than on the OS X desktop application. I find OneDrive and Google Drive poor solutions even for basic use and I am not recommending them.
If security is your concern you should go with SpiderOak. The desktop application is not bad, but don’t expect the level of refinement that you can get with Dropbox. The speed is good too considering that every single file you upload is also encrypted before leaving your computer.
The pleasant surprise is Syncplicity. They give you a generous 10GB free plan and the service is backed by one of the big names in enterprise computing.
All in all the conclusion is simple. Stick with iCloud Drive if your life is in the Apple ecosystem. If you need more flexibility, need to share files, have access to past versions of your documents and not be tight with Apple, then go with Dropbox.
Passwords for shared links create an additional layer of security so only people with the password can access your link.
Expirations for shared links safeguard your sensitive files by letting you set how long your links stay up.
View-only permissions for shared folders let you pick whether recipients can edit or just view files within your shared folder.
Remote wipe lets you delete your Dropbox files from a lost or stolen device while keeping them safely backed up in Dropbox.
This announcement comes together with the simplification of storage plans. For USD 9.99 a month or USD 99.00 a year, all Pro users can now avail of 1TB of storage.
The feature set is worth the upgrade, but the storage plan is still expensive for whoever needs less than 1TB of storage.
Obviously Dropbox has the metrics that show that only a handful of users are going to store 1TB of storage, hence this announcement masked as a price drop. A quick poll with my friends and colleagues has shown that all of them store way below 100GB of data in Dropbox. All these people will continue to pay USD 99.00.
In my little ecosystem the biggest threat to Dropbox is from Apple’s iCloud as it morphs this autumn into iCloud Drive. This facelifted service will work very much like Dropbox, with individual file control and the ability for disparate apps to sync data.
…
The big thing is that iCloud Drive will be much cheaper, certainly much less than Dropbox at current rates. Talk is of 200GB for $48 a year (a quarter the cost of Dropbox) and a terrabyte at even lower cost per Gigabyte. Currently the Dropbox ceiling for individuals is 500GB at $500 a year.
Integration with the OS and cost are the two biggest enemies of Dropbox.
There is also the integration part. You can be sure that iCloud Drive will morph even more into iOS and OS X. Dropbox will increasingly feel like something added to the OS rather than blended into it.
In my case, iCloud Drive cannot come fast enough. I really cannot wait to ditch Dropbox and finally achieve iCloud’s nirvana. I’ve been impressed with the speed, ease of use and the way the service is transparent to the user. There aren’t any sync icons in the menubar, nothing. Just pure and simple cloud sync/storage integrated in OS X Yosemite.
Dropbox introduced a new version of its desktop client Friday that comes loaded with an upgraded version of its file-sync technology. It now includes the ability to stream so that big files like video or audio can be retrieved by users faster.
This means that if you use Dropbox to store large files (think of home movies), you’ll be able to view them without experiencing the lag that normally occurs when you click play on almost any web service. The same technology is also used by Netflix, that in fact allows you to watch movies without downloading them to your computer.
Valualize Graphic has created an infographic about cloud storage services, partly using the data from this old post.
I’ve always been fascinated with infographics because they manage to squeeze in a single image, fairly complex information and data points. Good job Valualize Graphic.
Some users of the popular cloud storage and file sharing solution are not happy with Condoleezza Rice’s appointment to be in the Dropbox Board of Directors.
Someone has even started an online petition. The site named lists the reasons why Dropbox’s decision is the wrong one considering all the fuss about wiretapping, data spying etc.
The one page site ends with the invitation to send Drew Houston this message:
Unless you remove Condoleezza Rice from the Dropbox Board, I, and/or my organization, will stop using Dropbox and move to an alternative cloud storage provider.
Today’s Dropbox event in San Francisco had the theme , only to forget that quite often that .
I am not blown away by today’s announcements and actually see them as a way to catch up with the competition. Dropbox is painfully trying to build an ecosystem starting from a feature, rather than starting with a product. Today’s event is just proof of that.
It is evident that whatever Dropbox is trying to create is a poor attempt at achieving what Apple, Google and Microsoft have been developing for years.
Dropbox today announced , new features for Mailbox and new features for enterprise.
Carousel
It’s a from one single bucket hosted with Dropbox:
Carousel is a standalone app, powered by Dropbox, that aims to solve that problem. Houston said the company has been working on it for years.
Well, if this is the result of years of work then Dropbox investors should be worried, and I am not trying to sound sarcastic.
And unlike other mobile galleries, the size of your Carousel isn’t constrained by the space on your phone, which means you can finally have your entire life’s memories in one place.
Poor attempt to jab at Apple, if you ask me. Yes, is constrained by the storage of your device but if I were a company, I would not go there and fight with the big boys when promoting a new product that is far from being revolutionary.
Mailbox
It’s a nice app, but I cannot see how a OS X, iOS or Android user would ditch the stock email app for . Again, this seems to be just a way to create a poor ecosystem from products that have nothing in common and rely on hacks to work together (see the next section).
Mailbox still relies on your iCloud and Gmail email to host your email. At the end of the day it is still – albeit nicely executed – another email client.
Enterprise
Dropbox has announced:
A functionality that allows personal and enterprise accounts to live side by side on the same device
Remote wipe capabilities
A collaboration tool called “Project Harmony”
Companies that are serious about giving their employees a dropbox have already chosen. They have either deployed SkyDrive Pro, Google Drive, Box or more likely developed their in-house solutions (ask around if you think I’m wrong). Dropbox (the product) is again catching up with the competition.
The collaboration tool, nicknamed that Dropbox announced relies, as Dropbox itself, on some hacks that allow Microsoft Office (that’s the only software supported so far), to notify users when two people are working on the same file.
How long is it going to take for Microsoft to render that unusable? How long till Apple or Microsoft itself implements a deeply integrated notification system of the same kind in their products?
My argument is not that that is not a good idea, but that neither Microsoft nor Apple have any intentions of letting Dropbox take control of their backyard. They will always find a way to make sure that Dropbox needs to catch up once again.
Conclusions
In today’s event, Dropbox has not answered two basic questions:
How they are going to compete with the fact that the competition is lowering prices of cloud storage to an unsustainable level for their own business model (Google storage prices are about a fifth of Dropbox)
Dropbox is caught in a no man’s land that forces them to create an ecosystem without actually making any products, only exploiting commoditized features. Tough position to be in.
Now that the big boys have entered the cloud storage game, there will be much more competition. Not only that but we might start seeing a rush to the bottom for cloud storage prices.
This means problems for Dropbox because:
They don’t own their own data centers but rely on Amazon AWS. They can only lower prices as low as they are being charged by Amazon. In other words, they don’t own their own destiny.
Their business is entirely about cloud storage. Initiatives like Mailbox are limited and hardly likely to become part of their core business.
The large portion of their user base use the free storage tier. These users don’t generate revenue but cost money to the company as Amazon charges Dropbox fractions of cents for any upload/download.
Cloud storage is becoming ubiquitous and its value can only be augmented by leveraging a healthy ecosystem. Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and increasingly Box have been working on this for years.
Never like today the famous Steve Jobs’ quote that Dropbox is a feature not a product seems so right.
It’s going to be interesting how Dropbox – admittedly the best and more flexible cloud storage solution available to personal users – reacts to this.
