Steam's new Family Sharing system lets you lend and borrow PC games

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Zuckerberg's Internet sharing push draws doubts, praise

After Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a coalition with several other major tech companies to bring the Internet to areas of the globe that remain disconnected, the tech world reacted with a mix of criticism, mockery, doubt, and praise.

In the initiative, called Internet.org, Facebook is joined by Samsung, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Nokia, Opera, and MediaTek. Naturally, these companies' business interests have led many to approach their new collective altruistic effort skeptically.

ValleyWag, the site that Gawker Media recently relaunched to report and comment on issues relating specifically to Silicon Valley, blasted Zuckerberg and Facebook for a "faux humanitarian" effort to mask "a piece of cynical Facebook marketing." Calling it a "long con," Gawker's Sam Biddle doubted whether the plan would accomplish Facebook's business goals if it is successful.

"But if Zuckerberg's efforts mean more of the developing world has access to the internet and the economic benefits that entails, then great Internet.org doesn't plan missionary squads threatening Facebook sign-ups or death by firing squad," Biddle wrote. "Eventually they'll become tired of Facebook and start using Snapchat, just like the rest of us."

Chris O'Brien at the Los Angeles Times was just as doubtful, but pointed instead to the priorities Zuckerberg laid out in the Internet.org announcement.

"It's an ambitious idea. But it's likely to fall well short of its goals for the simple reason that it fails to recognize the complexity of reasons that people don't use the Internet," O'Brien wrote.

Citing several studies on Internet usage in under-developed markets, O'Brien says the "build-it-and-they-will-come" approach to the Internet doesn't account for a lack of equipment, money for equipment, and basic computer knowledge among people in these demographics, as a report released this June by the U.S. Department of Commerce had found.

"The problem is that once you turn the lens to these other issues, you've got to tackle some even more fundamental problems that may well feel overwhelming. Class, race, education," O'Brien wrote. "Is it reasonable to think Internet.org should [be] required to take on such weighty problems? Well, if this plan is going to have the intended impact, it can't afford to ignore these social and economic issues."

Engadget's Richard Lawler provided one of the more detailed analyses on the practicalities of the plan, specifically the prospect of making mobile apps more data-efficient. Zuckerberg says the high cost of data is one of the biggest barriers to adoption in developing markets, and admitted that Facebook's own app could improve in this area. As part of the plan, Facebook plans to reduce the data usage of its mobile app, which reached an average of 12MB per day earlier this year, to about 1MB per day. Lawler points out that Facebook could also limit the amount of data-intensive processes on mobile phones by restricting the amount of photos some users can upload or enabling users to download content from their friends' devices with services like WiFi Direct.

Lawler, however, didn't seem entirely confident in the plan, closing his article by saying "we'll be expecting our more efficient social network any day now."

The Guardian expressed concern over the privacy issues that could stem from an internet provider whose business relies on collecting users' personal information and social interactions.

"That approach is unlikely to find favor in countries where people are concerned about their internet use being monitored, given Facebook's emphasis on real-world identities," The Guardian's Stuart Dredge wrote.

TechCrunch's Josh Constine was one of the few who commended Internet.org's ambitions. Acknowledging that it is in the companies' business interests to open avenues into new markets, Constine says "whether or not you believe it, Facebook is truly trying to achieve its mission of connecting the world."

He also echoed the economic benefits that Zuckerberg played up in his announcement, which cited a McKinsey study estimating that the Internet creates an average of 2.6 jobs for ever one that it makes obsolete.

"If the plan works, mobile operators will gain more customers and invest more in accessibility; phone makers will see people wanting better devices; Internet providers will get to connect more people; and people will receive affordable Internet so they can join the knowledge economy and connect with the people they care about," Constine wrote.

Constine says the financial benefits of the plan are not necessarily a bad thing, as they will ensure the initiative remains sustainable.If that sounds like a Facebook statement, it's because it's not far from it. 

Zuckerberg said basically the same thing in a recent interview with The New York Times. "The Internet is such an important thing for driving humanity forward, but it's not going to build itself," he said. "Ultimately, this has to make business sense on some time frame that people can get behind."

However, the Facebook founder also claimed in that same interview that the immediate profits from the initiative will be minimal, and the motivations for Internet.org were mostly altruistic from the start.

"We're focused on it more because we think it's something good for the world, rather than something that is going to be really amazing for our profits," Zuckerberg told the Times.

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Review: DropittoMe offers simple Dropbox sharing without software

DROPitTOme DropittoMe is a free and easy way to allow others to upload content to your Dropbox—and you might find it pretty handy, too.

If you use the online file sharing service Dropbox, you know how easy it is for other users to send you files. But what about people who don't use Dropbox? DROPitTOme (and yes, that is how they capitalize it) is a free service that provides a simple way that people can upload files to your Dropbox account without having to install anything. It's similar to the handy dbinbox.

DropittoMe requires a password before content can be uploaded to your account, which is a nice security feature.

To use DropittoMe, you simply allow the service access to your Dropbox, and it creates a DropittoMe folder in your account. You then claim your username, which will be part of the link DropittoMe creates for you. I was able to claim “Liane” as a username, so my link will be relatively easy for anyone with whom I share it to remember it. With this link, anyone can send me files that then appear in the Dropittome folder in Dropbox.

I like that DropittoMe doesn’t simply assign you a random link. Instead, you get an easy-to-remember URL. What’s also nice is that you get to create a password, which folks who want to upload content to your Dropbox account will need to send files. It’s not the utmost in security—especially when you consider the security pitfalls of how you’re going to share that password with your friends and colleagues—but it is at least a protective barrier to your account.

DropittoMe’s interface is easy to understand, but also slick and attractive.

DropittoMe isn’t just for other folks to use. It’s also a convenient way to upload files to your own Dropbox account. You could use Dropbox’s own Web app when using a computer without Dropbox installed, but DropittoMe’s upload link can be even simpler. It allows you to upload files with fewer clicks. It allows you to place them only in the DropittoMe folder that it’s already created, though. And it limits you to files that are 75MB or smaller. But it’s a free, easy way to allow others to share content with you without them having to sign up for Dropbox.

Note: The Download button takes you to to the vendor's website, where you can sign up to use this Web service.

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