Sharing files and folders across the Internet is only going to increase in popularity. You probably already know this. You already visit sites like Hulu, Facebook, and YouTube. You love watching video. You probably also love downloading books to your iPad, Kindle, or other eReader. You love listening to music on your Android or iDevice. What you might not know is that there’s an entirely new way to transfer files that could be a game changer, at least in the consumer market.
OneTimeBox
The new service is called OneTimeBox. It’s sort of like BitTorrent, except without all of the hassles of setup and ongoing maintenance. Torrent clients like [tp lang=”en” only=”y”]Vuze[/tp][tp not_in=”en”]Vuze[/tp] will never go out of style, but OneTimeBox isn’t for heavy file transfer users. It’s made for the user who doesn’t want to create an account anywhere, only has a few files to share, and only needs to share something for about a week.
The service operates free of charge, and is open source – all good things for consumers. It’s also unique in that file transfers are unlimited in regards to files per box. You just create a box, put your files in the box, and then send out a link to people that you want to share your stuff with. That’s it.
Files stay on the system for a week. After that, they’re deleted.
Pros
The most obvious “pro” is that it’s quick and efficient. There are no usernames or passwords here. You just create a box, and then send off the link with your stuff in it. Another benefit of a service like this is that you aren’t obligated to share with other people whom you may not know.
With popular file transfer schemes, like BitTorrent, you can’t really share with a targeted group of people. You share a file, and it’s open for everyone to see. Rather, anyone can download the file and share it. That’s not ideal if you’re sharing photos of your vacation or something else that’s personal.
Finally, there are no fees with the service. With a service like Dropbox, you get all the features of OneTimeBox, but you have to actually have a Dropbox account. Moreover, you have to pay if you have a lot of files you want to transfer. With OnTimeBox, there’s no fee, ever.
Cons
While there are many advantages to the OneTimeBox setup, it’s not without its disadvantages. For starters, there’s a limit to the amount you can store, time wise. The service only works one week. So, if you need a long-term file transfer solution, this isn’t it.
It also puts your files at the mercy of a third-party company. That’s not something everyone feels comfortable with, especially in an age of NSA snooping. Finally, there’s the actual file size limit. While there’s no limit to the number of files you can pack into the box, you can only share 1GB of data.
That might sound like a lot, but a few decent high-res photos, or a long video, will chew up that space pretty quickly. So, it’s not for power-users.
Guest article written by: Corey Dudley has a passion for useful web applications. He often blogs about innovative uses and data security for the everyday internet user.