Hacker News Reader

Comment by sillysaurus2 | Hacker News Reader

However, it is a feature, not a product.

Steve Jobs said that to Drew Huston about Dropbox. I think Steve believed it, too.

History will show whether Snapchat is a feature or a product, because they'll either fail or succeed. But if even Steve Jobs was bad at assessing early-stage tech companies, then we outsiders probably shouldn't make categorical judgments like "Snapchat isn't a product."

View on HN

I think history will show Jobs right in regards to Dropbox. Dropbox created a company based on the inefficiency in the marketplace regarding cloud storage and file sharing. But this has all but evaporated. With Google, Apple and MS bundling cloud/hosting apps, how can dropbox possibly differentiate themselves? There is absolutely no network effects regarding cloud storage--web links do not have vendor lock-in. I believe its only a matter of time before dropbox tanks.

What efficiency evaporation are you referring to?

I use Dropbox because it works. I tried iCloud, and hit multiple points of frustration and failure. Whereas Dropbox let me transition seamlessly from Windows to OS X.

I mean inefficiency in terms of "an inefficiency in a market is a business opportunity". This inefficiency is in the process of being filled by the big players. Dropbox cannot survive as just a file sharing app in the face of bundled software from companies with deep pockets. Apparently they are fully aware of this as shown by their efforts to evolve into something more sustainable.

I really think Jobs could've been right at the time. But, Dropbox now is much more now than what it was once was.

In fact, this is how most successful software companies get their start - right? They begin with very narrow product - a single feature, even. If their hypothesis proves correct, they will grow pretty rapidly in usage and in offerings.

You're definitely right. Dropbox seems to be in the process of developing their business into something much more sustainable, the link from bryanh posted below was enlightening. I believe Jobs was right about filesharing being a feature. It's up to dropbox to use their momentum to evolve into something much more.

Whether they are still around in two years or not, Snapchat is still not a product in its current state. They may morph it into one, but it isn't right now. Being able to make your photos disappear is a feature that could be added to any photo sharing site (potential patent issues aside).

You beat me by a minute!

Well, if it's any consolation: You made Zapier, and I didn't! Zapier is awesome; thank you for creating it.

Well, myself and about 7 others so far! And thank you for using it! :-)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com