[steven777400]

This is a confusing case even for non "low-tech" users. I had a shared dropbox folder with a friend. I was done with my copy of the files, so I deleted them because I was close to my dropbox space limit. He freaked out because dropbox then deleted them from his drive too. In retrospect, I guess it makes sense, but the idea that a delete would propagate was certainly not the expected behavior.

[lazzlazzlazz]

If Dropbox synchronizes folders, including edits made to files, why wouldn't it synchronize a delete? If the expected behavior would be that it propagates anything but a deletion, that would be truly bizarre and confusing wouldn't it?

[steven777400]

Sure. It makes absolute sense, but it wasn't the behavior either of us expected. You could easily, and rightfully, say that our expectations were wrong and inconsistent. I deal with frustratingly inconsistent customer expectations all the time, so I sympathize when I'm on the other side of the table. Just an anecdote point.

Edit: To be more clear, I expected the behavior that SVN gives me, which is that a change is pending to commit by default, but an add or delete isn't. I have no good explanation for why I expected dropbox to behavior like SVN.

[DenisM]

Unlike high-tech users, low-tech users end up permanently scarred. They are also afraid of looking dumb, which compounds the problem. Dropbox has incurred significant, if hidden, usability debt.