I'll never understand remarks like that. The people who can put together something with similar functionality to Dropbox are by far in the minority. It's like having access to tons of scrap and be able to weld and dismissing metal bed frames because "I can do the same thing with some welding and scraps".
Also the claim that it would eliminate my need for a USB drive was 100% on point.
Slightly off topic but:
"Plus, you can use it as a portable disk. No "content protection". Yay!"
That was one of the best features of the original ipod line. Not only did was it a device to play music with, I could also use it as removable storage.
Everyone always digs that out, but the first iPod was kind of lame. I don't think it's unfair for someone to have pointed that out at the time. Especially when it's a hardware product - sure, the line is going to get better but you're not going to get a free upgrade to it.
But, the linked comment does miss the point. Specifically, it is doing a hardware spec comparison and not thinking about what it means when a large player is entering the market with a more-usable device.
And the linked comment (which is indeed an old chestnut) is typical of the spec-by-spec comparisons you still see in the tech press, and here on HN. It's a small reminder to look at the bigger picture.
That "someone" is Rob Malda, who ran Slashdot. In a way that comment embodies how the "old guard" on Slashdot was left behind in their predictions of what technology would become pertinent post-90s.
They are the highly technical types that quite bluntly aren't ever going to be entrepreneurs because that's not how they see the world. They just do everything themselves. Not a bad thing, that's just what it is.
I always assumed it was more about boasting than lack of self-awareness. Like how people post the same comment over again, I presume just to show they also thought of it.
I'm not sure if it supports your claim given most of the top comments were pro-Ipod whereas the story summary had the quote you gave. The comments seem to guess at the benefits people would be claiming later on. Interesting looking back at a critical moment in the past anyway, though. :)
Often this is just arrogance but sometimes big leaps get done that way. What if Wozniak hadn't been arrogant enough to think that he in his spare time and alone could build a better desktop computer than anything that's on the market?
