Sunday, May 7th, 2006

Building a Developer Network (Part 1)

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We’re in the process of building a comprehensive developer network which will highlight software and webapps that plug into Box.net storage. This will be a place for Box developers to congregate and allocate their efforts on group projects, discussions, API suggestions, etc. Box.net has a strong initiative to support the developers that are supporting us. The Box developer community will be a resource as well as a tool to ensure your project is properly publicized and available to our users.

From a business end, we have to consider how pushing the API will equate to mass consumption of Box storage. We are, foremost, aiming to make online storage a commercial technology. There are lots of ways to achieve this… and we will definitely pause to take hints from some of the bigger names in the consumer technology businesses. Have you noticed Microsoft’s push for Live.com success? It seems to be working. The web is changing, and the way people access the content and communicate will change. Many of us are ‘living’ in this web right now (if you read this blog, you’re probably one of these people). It’s an evolutionary process that will eventually make its way into everyone’s browser. Heck, my dad uses Meebo these days. So right now, as a company, we are making bets with very good odds. The bet is that there will be a commercialization of the “new web.” Maybe this won’t mean everyone is publishing blogs or listening to podcasts. But this can very well mean that – in time – ‘average consumers’ will use Goowy as a desktop-replacement, Live.com or Netvibes.com as a homepage replacement, or Jotspot as an email replacement (in certain cases). In all these cases, Box.net will be available to them. And all thanks to the passionate developers.

There are many of you already – Like David, who is working on .NET framework for the Box API. Its first product will be a way to upload, tag, share, and download files directly through windows explorer. We’ve seen an alpha of it, and it’s very cool. We’re excited to share it with other users in the coming weeks. Also, Mac users, look for a great tool to add Box as a drive! (And yes, sync is coming real soon).

So, let us know what you want to see in a developer network.

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  • http://glinski.blogspot.com stefeq
  • http://glinski.blogspot.com stefeq
  • JOJOFACE

    @stefeq: I don’t think you understood what he meant. I’m pretty sure he’s VERY aware of their partnerships with Netvibes and Goowy…

    @Box: The Netvibes API was a godsend. I’ll be thinkin’ about your developer network… ^_^’

  • http://glinski.blogspot.com stefeq

    I know :D .

    Thought if I named a couple maybe some I don’t know would get mentioned in the following user comments.

  • http://smartfixcomputers.com Martin

    You guys are doing great. Just put you on my website.
    http://smartfixcomputers.com

  • Aaron

    Thanks martin!

  • http://xtraticwar.com/ Draicone

    This sounds great. I run a website and am a developer myself, and while I won’t be offering box.net on my current site (it’s a text based mmorpg :P ) I’d love to join a box.net developer network and help out elsewhere.

  • http://www.share.links.to Find3r

    i cant wait for desktop sync!
    and goowy rox, just started to use.

  • http://www.flippantfox.com Jared

    Also added Box to my website (the only ad on there, too–a priveleged spot :)

    But…no Linux love? :(

  • http://boxdrive.blogspot.com David

    Jared,
    Not yet, but when I have the Box Drive completed and rolled out I do plan on creating a boxmount for linux.

  • http://www.uglyoverload.com Jared

    David: Sounds good!

  • Matt

    Very keen to hear more on the MacBox. Keep up the great work

    Matt

  • http://www.share.links.to Find3r

    Would be nice if we could use Microsoft SyncToy For Windows XP with Box.net. Its made to sync folders, but maybe could work with box.
    Just a crazy idea.
    Go here for more information about Synctoy: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

  • Lee

    what would be really cool would be collaborating with zoho office or similar (Writely unfortunately is probably out the window since google snapped them up!)

    Think, you have all your docs with box and then some sort of seamless background sync with irows or zoho or whatever to scrape the relevent files based on extensions into their website. Seamless web desktop!

    Would be cool with photos and stuff being insertable from box straight into a document in zoho.

    Of course with box drive this would be less important but it would really make working on any pc incredibly easy. Do that i might chuck out my hard drive and boot from a flash drive!

  • Sami Hoda

    I may be looking to develop a Adobe ColdFusion based solution to integrate with Box.net. Has this been done already? If not, this would immediately cause mass consumption for sure, because it would be so easy to make it plug and play.

  • Aaron

    Sami – That would be great if you can make this. I don’t know of anyone doing this yet….

  • Sami Hoda

    Whom should I contact once this is done?

  • http://www.bod.org/ PaulC

    I’d love to see WebDAV access… great way to put a ‘remote volume’ on your desktop, and the protocol is cross-platform (though Microsoft borked their implementation slightly, as usual ;)