Only four months ago, the same CEO said here at HN:
>I hope you'll stick it out with us, because we're nearly done migrating one of the largest web services on the planet, which means we get to focus on building again instead of just copying. The future is bright.
I've been a Flickr user for 13 years, and I can't say I'm surprised it's back in a precarious state. The sense that it could close up or drastically change (for the worse) has always been one of its defining characteristics. This is only the most recent in a string of disappointments following commitments to reinvigoration by successive owners. I remember telling Marissa Mayer, in person, thanks for investing in Flickr under Yahoo when they invited users to their relaunch [https://www.flickr.com/photos/nrbelex/8766466511/in/album-72...]. Almost immediately Yahoo lost interest. They made some minor UI changes, but the service as a whole languished. They probably came to the same conclusion: there's virtually no realistic path to profitability.
At this point, Flickr is simply too lumbering to become a competitor to Instagram. That's probably for the best. If they'd tried to make Flickr an Instagram clone, they'd probably have lost what few remaining dedicated users exist. The platform emphasizes the photos, and the community, or at least parts of it if you know where to look, really is focused on high quality images.
It's a particular bummer because Flickr is one of those services that's supposed to prove that a service can be primarily subscription-supported rather than ad supported if the product is good enough. If Flickr can't pull it off, even with a seemingly the best possible owner, what hope do other online services have? Flickr can and has jacked up pro prices--which is fine, frankly--but as this email makes clear, it probably won't be enough.
>I hope you'll stick it out with us, because we're nearly done migrating one of the largest web services on the planet, which means we get to focus on building again instead of just copying. The future is bright.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20649186
I've been a Flickr user for 13 years, and I can't say I'm surprised it's back in a precarious state. The sense that it could close up or drastically change (for the worse) has always been one of its defining characteristics. This is only the most recent in a string of disappointments following commitments to reinvigoration by successive owners. I remember telling Marissa Mayer, in person, thanks for investing in Flickr under Yahoo when they invited users to their relaunch [https://www.flickr.com/photos/nrbelex/8766466511/in/album-72...]. Almost immediately Yahoo lost interest. They made some minor UI changes, but the service as a whole languished. They probably came to the same conclusion: there's virtually no realistic path to profitability.
At this point, Flickr is simply too lumbering to become a competitor to Instagram. That's probably for the best. If they'd tried to make Flickr an Instagram clone, they'd probably have lost what few remaining dedicated users exist. The platform emphasizes the photos, and the community, or at least parts of it if you know where to look, really is focused on high quality images.
It's a particular bummer because Flickr is one of those services that's supposed to prove that a service can be primarily subscription-supported rather than ad supported if the product is good enough. If Flickr can't pull it off, even with a seemingly the best possible owner, what hope do other online services have? Flickr can and has jacked up pro prices--which is fine, frankly--but as this email makes clear, it probably won't be enough.