My Favorite Service (Down The List Part Seven)

Here it is folks, the moment you've all been waiting for...  If you have had the patience to read through my various diatribes regarding the less popular and successful file-sharing websites featured on eBizMBA's extensive list, then you have probably noticed my standards for what I consider proper file sharing to be rather high.  To my mind, a file sharing service should be intuitive, flexible, secure, have decent free features, and be crystal clear in what they provide to those who wish to support the site financially.  Until this point, website after website has fallen short in one or more of these categories, making what is currently my favorite file sharing service sit on it's prestigious pedestal.

MEGA is one of the newest and most impressive services as it has risen out of the ashes of the monstrously controversial site, Megaupload.  Kim Dotcom, the creator of Megaupload, was forced to shutdown the site after the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) worked in cohorts with the New Zealand government to arrest Dotcom and seize his servers. All of this was on the grounds that Dotcom was allegedly intentionally hosting material protected by copyright; barring any investigation, the USDOJ had Megaupload shutdown overnight after they raided Dotcom's private compound in New Zealand.

VICE did a report on the controversy, albeit a bit over-dramatic at times, which cover's Dotcom's perspective on the case as well as the events of the raid.  In this report Dotcom also details the specifics of MEGA; full end-to-end encryption, a whopping 50GB of free storage space, and exclusive user-based connection.  What's more, MEGA aims to be more than just a file sharing service; for around the price of $10/month, users will be able to chat and video call utilizing end-to-end encryption (a feature not even Skype offers).

In this post, I have decided to stick to the basics and lay the groundwork of the controversy.  However, next week I will dive even deeper into the MEGA conflict, challenging the epistemology and processes of governments regarding copyright and privacy in the post-modern, digital age.

Down The List (Part Six, Six, Six)

One anecdote seems to have stuck in my mind; it takes the human brain only seven seconds to determine whether or not a website is interesting, user-friendly, and engaging.  Zippyshare is most certainly not any of the latter, somehow making it's way to rank number nine on eBizMBA with 6,250,000 unique monthly visitors per month.

My guess is that the unlimited file storage size has something to do with the longevity and meager popularity of this service; the one caveat being a maximum upload size of only 200MB.  Clearly, bandwidth is an issue with this site, however storage is not whatsoever.  Such is a trend I am seeing more and more with the variety of services saturating the file sharing market.

Fortunately for its users, Zippyshare has a blog which, though scarcely updated, describes site progress as well as maintenance and other issues.  Additionally, Zippyshare is completely free!  There is one catch, however, as files that have not been accessed in over thirty days old will be deleted to conserve server space.  The site's user capabilities seem to be new as well; Zippyshare used to use a URL based access, however now it appears you are able to create an account on the site.  A feature some would assume to be ever-present, it seems the site is more of a pet project and less of a file sharing service.  This is only reinforced by the broken link to the FAQ section which is typically very helpful for new users such as myself.

While I can't really see myself or any other media professionals using the site, Zippyshare seems to be directed towards a more casual user base.

Down The List (Part Five)

Uploaded places at number ten on eBizMBA's top fifteen popular file sharing sites with 6,000,000 visitors per month.  Rightfully so, this website kicks the living crap out of DepositFiles as it's sleek and lean front-page invites (rather than begs) one to create an account and try out the service.  The promotional video is a bit ambiguous, though, as the animations do not reveal anything about the service other than securing the site's obvious status as a file sharing website.

Their offers and services are rather confusing in regard to specifics as well.  The site appears to be all based off of a point system in which one-time fees allow users to expand their download speed, capacity, and file size.  However, there is no obvious grading system for the allocation of said points to the outside user.  I'd hope that the service clearly outlines point to file size conversion for those users that decide to join this mysterious point-based website. 

For those that do decide to invest, premium accounts allow for unlimited parallel downloads with no restrictions which is a huge benefit in terms of bandwidth allocation.  Additionally, premium accounts are free of ads which apparently exist within their downloadable client.  While it is great that the service offers a syncing client that will keep your files up to date, it seems reasonable that such ads are featured within it for free users.  To my mind, it seems the only plausible approach to be profitable in the free realm, especially if the client is the only way in which files are managed, which I would hope it to be. 

All in all, aside from the ambiguity in premium services, Uploaded seems a bit more competitive than other sites I have reviewed thus far in terms of appearance.  However, you can't judge a book simply by it's cover (unless it's a file-handling gerbil, I mean come on!)

Down The List (Part Four)

Deposit Files comes next down the list with 4,750,000 estimated unique visitors per month according to eBizMBA.  Frankly, this site confuses me as visitors are greeted by a hamster or gerbil type of rodent carrying what I assume to be a satchel of files in a bag with a cloud logo on the front.  The site looks like someone's final project for an HTML programming class, it may be minimalist, but seems to lack any elements to draw you in (minus our black and white cartoon gerbil friend).  The developers appear to be goading visitors to upload a file upon loading the homepage: declaring in fine print that uploading a file implies agreement to the terms of use (not that anyone reads through those anyway).  The site just seems exceedingly tacky to me, but aesthetics aren't everything...

After a minute or so of getting my bearings, I found that the free service Deposit Files offers is competitive, indeed.  Free users are offered 10GB lifetime storage with unlimited file size and number per account--pretty sweet for a majority of media professionals.  Though it is a bit disconcerting as their "about" page states some of the obvious details of file sharing including the following:

• Password protection for your files download.
• Let us know when to delete your files.
• Downloading files at any time.

All that comes to mind for me here is uh...no shit?  That's how the internet works, ya dingus.  Their grammar/framing of sentences could use some work as well, but what else do you expect from a nationally ambiguous website?  Their contact information only provides emails, leading me to question the overall credibility of this site.  While their numbers might be somewhat attractive, nothing screams unprofessional like a linguistically inept hamster who might ultimately be responsible for your creative content.

An Example of Collaboration

This week I am posting an example of media creating using filesharing on my Soundcloud.  The example features one of my projects, Caecus, in which I hold the position of producer, engineer, and bassist.  Enjoy!

Down The List (Part Three)

Hightail is another one of the many file sharing sites featured on the continued eBizMBA list, placing at number twelve with 4,500,000 monthly visitors.  This service features a free "Lite" edition of the use of it's infrastructure which allows users to upload files up to 250MB with a maximum of 2GB total storage.  Compared to other services, this is lame at best!  However, Hightail's presentation makes me believe that it is not too concerned with a free user base.

Hightail stands out among the sites I have previously reviewed and mentioned simply due to branding.  The design of their main page is impeccably clean and image-based, two aspects of design that internet consumers seem to love, for good reason.  As we are living in a more image-based online society, it is clear that Hightail has done their market research to stay ahead of other services such as Sendspace.  The sleek and professional design, along with Hightail's variety of plans, makes the site a rather attractive option for professionals in any industry.

Hell, they even have a "Professional" plan which will run you $15.99 per user per month; benefits include the ability to share files up to 10GB in size, unlimited storage, and unlimited e-signatures for credential-based documents.  At $15.99, no wonder they call it professional--only people with salaries can afford that crazy price!  There is also a "Team" ($24.99/mo/user) and "Enterprise" (unlisted) plan, both of which are similar to the professional plan, but offer the ability to customize branding in the site's interface and manage a variety of users.  With their flagship plans offering user management, it seems that Hightail is geared towards firms rather than individuals, which would work in the context of media, assuming there enough work internationally to support the rather steep subscriptions.