What is Dropbox?

If you're reading this, chances are you're here because you have no idea what Dropbox is and what all the hype is about it.

Click around above or read on to find out more.

What?

Dropbox is a service that gives you cloud storage of your personal files in a really easy-to-use manner.

It gives you a folder on every computer you have Dropbox installed on that, when you drop files into it, synchronizes with Dropbox's service, so every device that you have dropbox on will contain the file you put on there

What do you mean?

In pictoral form:

You make a file
You put the file in your Dropbox folder
Your file is now in your dropbox, accessible from everywhere

Other computers (yes, even linux):
Mobile devices:
and most importantly... The Dropbox Website

So Dropbox makes it wicked easy to work on files from home, and have them be available anywhere. You could start something in a lab at school, upload it to dropbox via the website, and have it show up on your macbook or 1337 b4ttl3st4ti0n at home almost instantly. When you make changes, your saves are automatically uploaded to Dropbox's site; it even keeps revisions of your files.

The Catch

You only get so much storage to start out with (2GB) for free.

Only 2GB?

Yes, only 2GB. While that might seem like a lot, it adds up pretty quickly. Fortunately, there's a great, free way to get more storage:

The Hype

Dropbox is doing a contest now where colleges "compete" to see which college can get the most people to sign up.

Everyone who signs up with a college email address gets an extra 3GB to start.

The college with the most new users gets 25GB of space for every user for two years. Furthermore, every entry brings a college closer to a new "level," where the entire college recieves some more space. As of October 15, RIT is at 8GB of storage, which is pretty cool. That's on top of whatever you earn by doing stuff like referring friends and completing the getting starting guide.

OK, how do I get in on this and help RIT?

Alls you gotta do is sign up via the Dropbox page. Also, complete the "Getting Started" guide, which takes all of about five minutes, so RIT gets even more points.

After you sign up, you'll be instructed how to set up Dropbox on your computer (easy download.)

shameless plug

If this guide helped you make sense of what the buzz about Dropbox is and how it works, consider signing up via This shiny button to not only give RIT credit, but to give me a bit more free space too. I'll even throw in a picture of my cat.

You shameless tool.

If you're not a fan of shameless self-promotion (or cats), you can sign up via this other shiny button; just remember to use your RIT e-mail address.

And make sure to do the getting started tutorial!