# Dropbox appoints Condoleezza Rice to their board. Do you care? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 10, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832 "2014-04-10T23:58:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/21 "2014-04-11T14:38:06Z")
I view Condi as a minor player in the run-up to the war and a major player in breaking up the Rumsfeld-Cheney axis [of evil] afterwards. Maybe that doesn’t redeem her, but I don’t put her in the same box as Rummy or Dick. How would people feel about Colin Powell on a BoD? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/22 "2014-04-11T15:21:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’d want to at least find successful Republicans. Rice’s qualifications are she was a top adviser in the Bush administration on national security and foreign relations. That’s like being the guy who was in charge of steering the Titanic. You’re not aware of any other academic, government, or business qualifications she has? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/23 "2014-04-11T15:28:48Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > You’re not aware of any other academic, government, or business qualifications she has? Apparently the Bush administration just ran an ad for the position in the DC Penny Pincher and she answered. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/24 "2014-04-11T15:34:34Z")
I use dropbox for my work and frankly I don’t care. Even if I did it wouldn’t matter because pretty much all of the suppliers I work with are using dropbox. It would be like demanding everyone else stop using Microsoft Word files and pdfs. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/25 "2014-04-11T16:29:28Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > No idea what qualifications she has that makes her attractive to Dropbox… Connections. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/26 "2014-04-11T19:55:58Z")
The top is a very tight circle… Surprised, actually. I would have thought she would’ve gone into something with a larger cap. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/27 "2014-04-11T20:14:33Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > No idea what qualifications she has that makes her attractive to Dropbox, but otherwise I have no issue. And I would say that if people are going to start boycotting companies run by Republicans, they’re going to have to start getting used to living off the land and building makeshift shelters out of bark. True, but that lying bitch isn’t just any Republican. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/28 "2014-04-11T20:37:05Z")
> [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](#): > > The top is a very tight circle… > Surprised, actually. I would have thought she would’ve gone into something with a larger cap. She was (maybe still is?) on Chevron’s board. It’s not like board membership is a lot of work. She could be on many at once. Or maybe she’s old and wants to slum it up a bit before retirement. She was on 30 Rock, so that makes her one of the hipper war criminals around. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/29 "2014-04-11T20:38:08Z")
What is dropbox? ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/30 "2014-04-11T20:40:35Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > What is dropbox? Aren’t old people cute? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/31 "2014-04-11T20:56:19Z")
> [@Melchior](#): > > What is dropbox? See, it used to mean “a box that you drop things in”, but now it’s a company that makes file syncing software for computers. It allows you to put “files” (which are no longer pieces of paper, but in fact collections of digital data on a hard drive) into a “folder” (which is no longer of the manila variety and is just a directory of computer files) on one computer, and makes them available on any computer this “Dropbox” software is installed on. For your convenience. There are free and paid versions of this service, depending on how much data you want to sync. Funny how language changes. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/32 "2014-04-11T21:42:06Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > She was (maybe still is?) on Chevron’s board. It’s not like board membership is a lot of work. She could be on many at once. Or maybe she’s old and wants to slum it up a bit before retirement. > > She was on 30 Rock, so that makes her one of the hipper war criminals around. Hmmm…I wonder if this is some PR thing with higher office in mind. Might give her an edge with the tech-savvy younger demographic. Look out Hillary, Condi’s movin up! ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/33 "2014-04-11T21:43:27Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Aren’t old people cute? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/34 "2014-04-11T21:53:21Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > See, it used to mean “a box that you drop things in”, but now it’s a company that makes file syncing software for computers. > > It allows you to put “files” (which are no longer pieces of paper, but in fact collections of digital data on a hard drive) into a “folder” (which is no longer of the manila variety and is just a directory of computer files) on one computer, and makes them available on any computer this “Dropbox” software is installed on. For your convenience. There are free and paid versions of this service, depending on how much data you want to sync. > > Funny how language changes. I didn’t know it was a company, but I have this on my computer. I don’t use it. I thought it was just a ‘feature’ of Windows 7. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/35 "2014-04-11T23:36:20Z")
Board members are of interest to the stockholders, but should be of very little interest to customers. Do you know who the board members are for the companies that make your favorite products? No? Well, you can look it up. I’ll wait. Oh, you can’t be bothered? Yeah, me neither. Same with this. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/36 "2014-04-12T08:15:20Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Board members are of interest to the stockholders, but should be of very little interest to customers. Do you know who the board members are for the companies that make your favorite products? No? Well, you can look it up. I’ll wait. Oh, you can’t be bothered? Yeah, me neither. Same with this. Except the tech industry tends to be an uppity progressive bunch. They kicked out the Firefox CEO for hating gays last week, and this week Dropbox made the unfortunate PR error of announcing her to the public. If they kept quiet nobody would’ve known or cared much. But to deep-blue Silicon Valley, announcing that you’ve hired one of the co-head-villains of the Bush era was probably not the brightest move – especially given her open opposition to data privacy. But even without that, people were going to respond emotionally to such an appointment. Dropbox may be less affected than Firefox because it’s not an open source consumer darling, more an enterprise thing that happens to have a free consumer version too, but even then the first calls for a boycott started within hours and by the next day an organized website was up and running. Guess we’ll find out if there truly can’t be bad publicity… ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/37 "2014-04-12T18:01:39Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Why would a political science / policy strategist be involved in a computer tech field? IIRC correctly Rice expertise was in Soviet studies and policy. She’s an academic and former Provost at Stanford. She’s a former Secretary of State. > > Where did she suddenly acquire any technical skills in computers or Internet Apps? Without holding an opinion on this particular issue, I’d just point out that it is common for directors to have little specific experience in the work of the company. In fact, it’s typical. Directors are chosen for other reasons. They aren’t management. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832/38 "2014-04-12T18:24:29Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Board members are of interest to the stockholders, but should be of very little interest to customers. Do you know who the board members are for the companies that make your favorite products? No? Well, you can look it up. I’ll wait. Oh, you can’t be bothered? Yeah, me neither. Same with this. 🙂 But seriously, it’s silly to argue that because you don’t have infinite knowledge, you shouldn’t act on the knowledge you do have. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropbox-appoints-condoleezza-rice-to-their-board-do-you-care/685832.md?page=1)