5 ms·

I really wish I could pay for free services just for the peace of mind that they'll stick around. I've got my website on Tumblr and by using their service I fe

by dhotson 15y ago

I really wish I could pay for free services just for the peace of mind that they'll stick around. I've got my website on Tumblr and by using their service I feel like I'm making a pretty big commitment to them, but since it's free it doesn't feel like they have the same level of commitment to me. I freaking love Tumblr and would be happy to pay. But right now it's not clear to me if they're making any money at all and that's a big concern as a user. Just remind me, how do those guys make money again? Also, Pinboard founder Maciej Ceglowski wrote on the topic of being a free user not that long ago: http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/12/don_t_be_a_free_user/ http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/12/don_t_be_a_free_user/ The TL;DR version was: Exploding growth + free service = losing lots of money. Ouch.

davidw 15y ago
(It's peace of mind. Piece of mind is something a brain surgeon finds stuck to his shirt when he goes home for the day)
- BasDirks 15y ago
  There is also "to give a piece of mind".
  - liedra 15y ago
    I'll give you a piece of my mind if you keep going on about this! (not really, just giving an example :)
- dhotson 15y ago
  Doh! Thanks. :-)
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didgeoridoo 15y ago
I wonder how common this sentiment is. You could imagine an "insurance" service that sites can sign up for, allowing users to pay monthly to ensure continuity of service for 1 year after the site goes down for good. The insurer would take over & install a wind-down team to minimize losses while maintaining a minimum level of service. Profit would come from all the sites with premium-payers that don't go down. Steal this idea, anyone?
read_wharf 15y ago
"I really wish I could pay for free services just for the peace of mind that they'll stick around. I've got my website on Tumblr ..." The sensible middle ground is to host your site anywhere you want, but only using your own domain. If someone pulls a Posterous, you just point your domain at the next vendor, export from old and import to new. Same with email. Your address should be under a domain that you own, then you can host your email anywhere that allows you to use your own domain. Even gmail does this.

by dhotson 15y ago

davidw 15y ago

(It's peace of mind. Piece of mind is something a brain surgeon finds stuck to his shirt when he goes home for the day)

BasDirks 15y ago
There is also "to give a piece of mind".
- liedra 15y ago
  I'll give you a piece of my mind if you keep going on about this! (not really, just giving an example :)
dhotson 15y ago
Doh! Thanks. :-)

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didgeoridoo 15y ago

I wonder how common this sentiment is. You could imagine an "insurance" service that sites can sign up for, allowing users to pay monthly to ensure continuity of service for 1 year after the site goes down for good. The insurer would take over & install a wind-down team to minimize losses while maintaining a minimum level of service. Profit would come from all the sites with premium-payers that don't go down. Steal this idea, anyone?

read_wharf 15y ago

"I really wish I could pay for free services just for the peace of mind that they'll stick around. I've got my website on Tumblr ..." The sensible middle ground is to host your site anywhere you want, but only using your own domain. If someone pulls a Posterous, you just point your domain at the next vendor, export from old and import to new. Same with email. Your address should be under a domain that you own, then you can host your email anywhere that allows you to use your own domain. Even gmail does this.