3 ms·
Bit of Google searching, found what I was looking for: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13810889 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13810889 Image/File h
by Nadya 9y ago
Bit of Google searching, found what I was looking for: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13810889 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13810889
Image/File hosting sites are much like you described.
1. All existing options suck because of feature bloat/ads/slowness/what have you
2. "I can run my own!"
3. Popularity explodes for being better (no ads, faster, etc.)
4. Bandwidth costs increase due to growth
5. Owner tries adding ads and other features (paid accounts, file size/bandwidth limits etc.) to help with bandwidth costs
6. This host shuts down or enters into the ring of "sucky existing options" barely keeping afloat
7. The cycle continues
- throwanem 9y agoI don't have an Imgur account; I just use it ad hoc for sharing low-res photo excerpts and whatever else in IRC channels. (Palaver's integration in particular makes this easy.) But based on occasional browsing and the odd bit of inside baseball that makes it to the front page, I'd surmise Imgur is somewhere between stages 4 and 5 on your list, and closer to the latter than the former. I'm sure its eventual successor is doing a slow burn toward virality even now.
- IgorPartola 9y agoExcellent find. Yes I was wondering if it's possible to run a gambit like this and come out profitable. Sounds like that's very unlikely. Edit: is "gambit business" a term? Because if not: (tm)!