The products that move our expectations.

Folks, I know it’s Saturday and I ought to be thinking about something other than work. But I’m still in a place where “work” is honestly among the most fun things I can think of.

What a time to be alive. (Yes, I keep saying it.)

But today’s little reflection is for all of us who remember the feeling of trying Dropbox for the first time. When files suddenly just synchronised between computers without any fuss. You know that feeling:

“Shit. This is how it’s supposed to work.”

The thing is: I’ve used Tailscale since... I actually don’t know. Perhaps 2020. And I’ve always been fascinated by how incredibly well thought through it is.

Today, we live in a world where cloud services coexist with computers, AI agents and services running at home on a Mac mini or an iMac. And I honestly don’t know another service that gives me the same feeling of complete frictionlessness. It just works.

I have no connection to Tailscale whatsoever. I’m simply a big fan.

Anyway. It made me think about how important these kinds of products are. They don’t just solve a problem. They raise the bar for what we expect. They change our picture of what’s normal.

Dropbox did it for file synchronisation. I know things are tougher for them today, but neither iCloud, Google Drive nor OneDrive would look the way they do if Dropbox hadn’t shown the way first.

It’s easy to forget the pioneers once the rest of the world has caught up.

Just sayin’. Have a good weekend.