Dropbox is the first company to actually get syncing right on a consumer level. Tools like rsync have always existed, but it’s far from simple for the average consumer. Frankly, Dropbox puts all of the other automated file-syncing applications to shame, so much shame, in fact, that Steve Jobs met with the company and offered to buy Dropbox for nine figures back in 2009.
From Forbes:
Jobs smiled warmly as he told them he was going after their market. “He said we were a feature, not a product,” says Houston. Courteously, Jobs spent the next half hour waxing on over tea about his return to Apple, and why not to trust investors, as the duo—or more accurately, Houston, who plays Penn to Ferdowsi’s mute Teller—peppered him with questions.
Dropbox turned both Apple and Jobs down. Now Dropbox has a valuation of $4 billion dollars, and Apple has iCloud.
Instead of rehashing the entire article here, we would recommend that you go and check out the four page article on the Forbes website. While the article touches on the Apple offer, the majority of the piece looks at Dropbox, their rise, and the future of their company. It’s a fantastic article, and a great read.