4 ms·

I remember seeing the original post[1] when it was created. Exactly as you say, there wasn't a good service to just host images. "I got fed up with all the oth

I remember seeing the original post[1] when it was created. Exactly as you say, there wasn't a good service to just host images. "I got fed up with all the other image hosts out there so I made my own. It doesn't force you to compress your images, and it has neat things like crop, resize, rotate, and compression from 10-100. It's my gift to you. Let's not see anymore imageshack/photobucket around here ;) I'll be listening if anyone has some suggestions. EDIT: The server was moved off of shared hosting after about 4 hours of release. It's now on a dedicated server with a 100mb port." I often think about this post and imgur as an example of how an exceedingly simple utility of the Internet can easily acquiesce, and succumb, to the advertising and marketing forces that be[2]. [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/7zlyd/my_gift_to_reddit_i_created_an_image_hosting/ https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/7zlyd/my_gift_t... [2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubg0BQi57xE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubg0BQi57xE

sosborn 10y ago
> exceedingly simple yet expensive to run.
- trymas 10y ago
  Yes! I wonder how it started? Did it had some unobtrusive ads or donation since the beginning? It would also be interesting to know how much it costs to run imgur.com (at day one and now). I imagine that the bill that came after first month or a quarter would have been so large that no indie dev could let that have it out of his own pocket, I even doubt that ad or donation revenue would have covered that either. Creating 'a simple image hosting service' is rather easy, but oh boy it's expensive, otherwise there would be gazillion 'simple image hosting services' or imageshack, photobucket and similar wouldn't have become bullshit in the first place.
Iv 10y ago
At one point we need to realize that there is a working model for that: public infrastructure. Government-managed and funded.
- cyborgx7 10y ago
  But the invisible hand of the market will work it all out. Who needs stable public infrastructure if you can have a constant cycle of bubble building and popping to keep you on your toes.
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  Like we had public access on cable? You had limited resources and serious censorship both by the government and local 'community values.' Half the things on imgur or gify wouldn't be allowed on this hypothetical government hosting. Having the government do everything has been tried in history and its leads to failure (communism). There's a reason that the PC and internet and mobile revolutions happened via capitalism and private business. Or why wikpedia is a foundation or the wayback machine or whatever. I understand Bernie Sanders is popular here and there's a strange 'have the government do everything, duh' mentality popular with millennials now, but historically it doesn't pan out. The government's role should be something that's carefully considered. Its not remotely a fix-all.
  - mthoms 10y ago
    >Having the government do everything has been tried in history and its leads to failure (communism). Having the government do some things has been tried in history and in many cases has worked out quite well. The roads, schools and fire department are quite good where I live for example. Though not perfect of course. I'm not suggesting that this particular service is a good thing for the government to take on. Just want to mention that it's not "all-or-nothing" choice.
  - S4M 10y ago
    > There's a reason that the PC and internet and mobile revolutions happened via capitalism and private business. You realize that Internet was first funded by the government, right?

sosborn 10y ago

> exceedingly simple yet expensive to run.

trymas 10y ago
Yes! I wonder how it started? Did it had some unobtrusive ads or donation since the beginning? It would also be interesting to know how much it costs to run imgur.com (at day one and now). I imagine that the bill that came after first month or a quarter would have been so large that no indie dev could let that have it out of his own pocket, I even doubt that ad or donation revenue would have covered that either. Creating 'a simple image hosting service' is rather easy, but oh boy it's expensive, otherwise there would be gazillion 'simple image hosting services' or imageshack, photobucket and similar wouldn't have become bullshit in the first place.

Iv 10y ago

At one point we need to realize that there is a working model for that: public infrastructure. Government-managed and funded.

cyborgx7 10y ago
But the invisible hand of the market will work it all out. Who needs stable public infrastructure if you can have a constant cycle of bubble building and popping to keep you on your toes.
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Like we had public access on cable? You had limited resources and serious censorship both by the government and local 'community values.' Half the things on imgur or gify wouldn't be allowed on this hypothetical government hosting. Having the government do everything has been tried in history and its leads to failure (communism). There's a reason that the PC and internet and mobile revolutions happened via capitalism and private business. Or why wikpedia is a foundation or the wayback machine or whatever. I understand Bernie Sanders is popular here and there's a strange 'have the government do everything, duh' mentality popular with millennials now, but historically it doesn't pan out. The government's role should be something that's carefully considered. Its not remotely a fix-all.
- mthoms 10y ago
  >Having the government do everything has been tried in history and its leads to failure (communism). Having the government do some things has been tried in history and in many cases has worked out quite well. The roads, schools and fire department are quite good where I live for example. Though not perfect of course. I'm not suggesting that this particular service is a good thing for the government to take on. Just want to mention that it's not "all-or-nothing" choice.
- S4M 10y ago
  > There's a reason that the PC and internet and mobile revolutions happened via capitalism and private business. You realize that Internet was first funded by the government, right?