When you put a file into a Dropbox-synced folder/directory, Dropbox first syncs the file to their cloud storage in AWS. Once that sync is completed, Dropbox starts to sync to other devices. If you want to sync a large file, you must wait for the cloud sync to complete before it will start to copy it to other devices, which could take longer than copying with a flash drive.

I assumed that was the meaning behind the statement you selected.

This is not a Forbes article, it is an article by a Forbes "contributor" which is a barely-vetted blogger given permission to publish articles.

I didn't read the article but my first thoughts on seeing the headline on HN were "Linkbait!... Wait, why is a Forbes article being promoted on HN?"

I do not get it nowadays. Such articles from Forbes and other sites are mindlessly promoted over here and they don't follow any HN guidelines! Just there to get traffic and increase page views.

Although I didn't read the article, having just assumed it was shit based on the title and publication, "routing through the cloud" does slow things down with Dropbox, often dramatically.

I have gigabit fiber at home, and a 100Mbps link at work. BTSync syncs at about 5MB/sec which is close to real world SFTP speeds between those locations.

Dropbox sync speeds are on the order of a few hundred KB/sec, and sometimes an abysmal 50KB/sec. That's to the Dropbox cloud, and then it takes even longer to actually sync out from the Dropbox cloud to the other location.