Ethan’s posterous

Dropbox viewed from the south

I'm in Mexico right now working around people in the mining industry
and I just got an invitation from one of the Mexican geologists to
join a Dropbox folder to share files about a mining project. Now,
I've been using and telling people about Dropbox since they starting
beta testing. Hearing about a startup from a source unrelated to the
people building it - which in this case means anyone who isn't a
Facebook friend of Drew or Arash - is always really cool and feels
like a big milestone. That I'm far from Silicon Valley makes it all
the more impressive. Plus these are corporate users who have told me
they'd be perfectly happy to upgrade to a paying account when they
need to. ¡Dropbox les gusta a todos aca!

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Finally

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Can't I have tasteful with a good keyboard?

I'm writing this in a store that sells laptops, on one of the tackiest computers I've ever seen. I think it's called a Gateway FX or something - imagine a Pontiac Trans Am with a touchpad. Yet I'm envious and irritated because it has something that I can't have in my wonderfully designed MacBook Pro: fantastic keyboard feel. My MBP has the mushiest, least responsive keyboard I've ever used, at least among those keyboards I've tolerated. It's crap. I'm going to be ordering up a nice IBM Model M keyboard to use while I've seated at a table, which will be great since that must account for, gosh, at least 5% of my usage. I wonder if I can get a laptop case that will hold a seven pound keyboard?

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When should you get on a bandwagon?

My sister and two of my best friends just joined Facebook after years of grouchy protest. Now they love it. Why wouldn't they? All their friends are already there - it's like a personal theme park that's been waiting for them. It's funny, because their early adopter buddies had a much harder time, yet talked the experience up.

So the sticks-in-the-mud have more fun.  Is this true of other experiences?  I was going to say that that's true of anything with a heavy network effect. But that's not true - I was the first of my circle of friends to get involved with the internet and it was a fantastic experience.  The early Twitter had that feel, and blogging.  CB radio is said to have been like that too. Why? Simple: that's where the cool kids hang out. Your friends may not be there, but the friends you wish you had are.

So, there you have it. If you want a new crew of hip friends, jump aboard the newest network. They're waiting for you there.

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