Dropbox: Is file sharing just the beginning?

last updated 11 January 2015

Dropbox is thinking outside of the, well, box.

The cloud file sharing and storage company just snapped up tech start-up Orchestra, the company behind the email app Mailbox. Mailbox, which just went live last month, is a free iPhone app that promises to simplify email for users. The company says it now delivers more than 60 million emails a month.

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My guess is that Dropbox will eventually build (or buy) a number of features or applications on top of all the data and content that people are storing within the service. That could include the ability to use or manage photos, documents, music, movies or even address books. That’s one way for Dropbox to start charging for different services beyond just additional storage space. It’s also a way to keep users attached to its service and not drifting away to others like Google Drive or Apple iCloud.

This is not to say that Dropbox will necessarily build its own email service to rival Gmail. But Mailbox sits on top of Gmail and helps people manage their files that they receive in email to save within Dropbox. In addition, if one of Dropbox’s key uses is sharing files to collaborate with others, then connecting those files over email is a natural fit. Expect to see more of these types of acquisitions or applications launching from Dropbox. [Forbes]

Sergio Hernandez is business editor of The Week's print edition. He has previously worked for The Daily, ProPublica, the Village Voice, and Gawker.

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