Wednesday, January 10, 2007

When I first started sending files to people using file transfer services, I was fond of dropload because it'd tell me when the other party had picked up the file.

After a while, though, I got sick of it and moved to YouSendIt. However, in recent months it's required users to have an account and login in order to receive files. Furthermore, it used to have a maximum filesize of 1 GB, but it's now a paltry 100 MB.

Either before or after YouSendIt, I was using Megaupload, but the requirement to enter the file description is annoying, I get irritated by the ads and the 45 second waiting time before you can download a file pisses me (and the people I send files to) off.

I then moved to SendSpace, which didn't require registration and had a file size limit of 300 MB. However, for the past few days it's been RapidSharing* me, leaving me unable to download some files someone sent me.

Web services are always like this. They offer a good deal at the start, but once they get popular they mistreat you and try to extract money from you by RapidSharing* you or some such.

The good news is that you can always move on. Some promising replacements I've shortlisted: TransferBigFiles.com (no files I've sent using it have ever reached the other person), MediaFire (recommended by Ray the Wannabe Economist), zUpload.com and Up-File.


* - RapidShare is a file-sending service I've always hated, since it always claims I've either exhausted my bandwith allocation for the day or am already downloading something. This is because Starhub uses a transparent proxy, so someone else behind the same proxy has already spoilt the market for me.