4 ms·

We are going to lawyer this, aren't we? The service was promised for free, not per photo storage. The expectation is that the service will continue to be free.

We are going to lawyer this, aren't we? The service was promised for free, not per photo storage. The expectation is that the service will continue to be free. From what you're saying, (most of) the future use of the service, which consists of uploading and storing new photos, will be charged. Velvet gloves dumping.

nybble41 6y ago
> The service was promised for free… Please point out exactly where Google, or any of their competitors, ever promised that any of their free services would remain available—much less free—forever. Anyone who expected that was kidding themselves, especially given the history of high-profile services being shut down or significantly redesigned on a regular basis.
- dredmorbius 6y ago
  Launch announcement: They’re pitching it as having “unlimited storage”.... Yep! We were right. Google Photos will launch today, for free. https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/28/confirmed-google-will-launch-google-photos-a-standalone-photo-host-with-unlimited-storage/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/28/confirmed-google-will-laun... HN discussion at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9618965 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9618965 Highlight comment: Right now, I have more faith in a specialist small company (e.g. Smugmug [disclaimer, no affiliation]) which charges for their product than Google who offer it for free ... and then, not ... and then ... repackaged ... and then ... RIP. -- XJOKOLAT https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9619340 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9619340
  - nybble41 6y ago
    The "unlimited storage" in the pitch was obviously referring to uploaded photos not being counted against your storage quota, not a guarantee that this arrangement would continue indefinitely.
    - dredmorbius 6y ago
      Techcruch, arguably an entity with some experience and credibility in assessing product and service offerings, noted both "unlimited" and "free" in describing Google Photos. Which might be considered a presumptive public expectaction.
      - nybble41 6y ago
        Techcrunch never claimed what you are claiming. Yes, at launch the service was both unlimited (in storage capacity—not duration) and free. They never said that state of affairs would last forever, and it would have been unreasonable for anyone to assume that it would.
andromeduck 6y ago
So if someone gives you a free beer for a the foreseeable future they also owe you free beer for life? What kind of entitlement is this?!
- rmah 6y ago
  There is a certain segment of the population that believes exactly that. And they tend to get offended when you point out that it's unreasonable.
- usrusr 6y ago
  What if he only stops giving you free beer after all other breweries have closed shop?
  - virgilp 6y ago
    But there are plenty of other breweries! Adobe hasn't closed shop, neither has Microsoft (OneDrive), Dropbox, iDrive, pCloud, or for that matter SmugMug, Flickr etc.
- TheCoelacanth 6y ago
  If they are trying to drive competitors out of business to form an illegal monopoly, then yes.
- nomad543 6y ago
  If someone gives people free beer while driving out competitors or preventing potential competitors form starting a business, then it's dumping. No company should be entitled to decimate competition using dirty strategies.
  - andromeduck 6y ago
    1. Loss leading is not dumping. 2. Plenty of competitors in the storage space are still thriving including Dropbox, Box, Microsoft OneDrive, Backblaze, Amazon Drive, Apple iCloud, etc. 3. There's even more more competition on the photo sharing side of things like Instagram, Flickr, SmugMug, 500px, imgur, imageshack, Facebook, 1x, photoblog, etc. 4. Photos isn't even the largest service nor Google the most influential player in either sector.
deleted 6y ago
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nybble41 6y ago

> The service was promised for free… Please point out exactly where Google, or any of their competitors, ever promised that any of their free services would remain available—much less free—forever. Anyone who expected that was kidding themselves, especially given the history of high-profile services being shut down or significantly redesigned on a regular basis.

dredmorbius 6y ago
Launch announcement: They’re pitching it as having “unlimited storage”.... Yep! We were right. Google Photos will launch today, for free. https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/28/confirmed-google-will-launch-google-photos-a-standalone-photo-host-with-unlimited-storage/ https://techcrunch.com/2015/05/28/confirmed-google-will-laun... HN discussion at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9618965 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9618965 Highlight comment: Right now, I have more faith in a specialist small company (e.g. Smugmug [disclaimer, no affiliation]) which charges for their product than Google who offer it for free ... and then, not ... and then ... repackaged ... and then ... RIP. -- XJOKOLAT https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9619340 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9619340
- nybble41 6y ago
  The "unlimited storage" in the pitch was obviously referring to uploaded photos not being counted against your storage quota, not a guarantee that this arrangement would continue indefinitely.
  - dredmorbius 6y ago
    Techcruch, arguably an entity with some experience and credibility in assessing product and service offerings, noted both "unlimited" and "free" in describing Google Photos. Which might be considered a presumptive public expectaction.
    - nybble41 6y ago
      Techcrunch never claimed what you are claiming. Yes, at launch the service was both unlimited (in storage capacity—not duration) and free. They never said that state of affairs would last forever, and it would have been unreasonable for anyone to assume that it would.

andromeduck 6y ago

So if someone gives you a free beer for a the foreseeable future they also owe you free beer for life? What kind of entitlement is this?!

rmah 6y ago
There is a certain segment of the population that believes exactly that. And they tend to get offended when you point out that it's unreasonable.
usrusr 6y ago
What if he only stops giving you free beer after all other breweries have closed shop?
- virgilp 6y ago
  But there are plenty of other breweries! Adobe hasn't closed shop, neither has Microsoft (OneDrive), Dropbox, iDrive, pCloud, or for that matter SmugMug, Flickr etc.
TheCoelacanth 6y ago
If they are trying to drive competitors out of business to form an illegal monopoly, then yes.
nomad543 6y ago
If someone gives people free beer while driving out competitors or preventing potential competitors form starting a business, then it's dumping. No company should be entitled to decimate competition using dirty strategies.
- andromeduck 6y ago
  1. Loss leading is not dumping. 2. Plenty of competitors in the storage space are still thriving including Dropbox, Box, Microsoft OneDrive, Backblaze, Amazon Drive, Apple iCloud, etc. 3. There's even more more competition on the photo sharing side of things like Instagram, Flickr, SmugMug, 500px, imgur, imageshack, Facebook, 1x, photoblog, etc. 4. Photos isn't even the largest service nor Google the most influential player in either sector.

deleted 6y ago

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