7 ms·

Easel Is Shutting Down

61 points by jcater 12y ago

ntaso 12y ago
And another story for http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/ http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/ We believe that iterating on design should be straightforward and free of repetitive work. We’re excited to be joining GitHub to continue to pursue that goal. What does this means to you, our users? Easel continues to run as it has. We’ll continue to provide support and all of our paid plans will continue to enjoy their current benefits. We’re excited to begin this new chapter and hope you’ll love what we have in store. [1] Weird. I checked them out yesterday, even thought about signing up. Good that I didn't go through the hassle. [1] http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-github/ http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-githu...
- sp332 12y ago
  Not sure it's OIJ material, since they at least apologized for deleting their users' data. Of course that's not as good as not-deleting it in the first place. This was posted in 2009 and is unfortunately still relevant: they chose to rip it down posthaste, with a specific amount of “warning time”... it also happened in an environment where this approach was considered legitimate and valid. This is the heart of what I’m trying to get to: they saw absolutely nothing wrong with this. http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1649 http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1649
- sogen 12y ago
  Beat me to it
colmvp 12y ago
To be expected after being acquired by Github.
- sp332 12y ago
  Well it wasn't expected after they said back in January that it wasn't going to happen.
  - pyre 12y ago
    You should never believe any of the "we won't close the doors" post-acquire statements. It's the exception to the rule when they keep them running.
    - saidajigumi 12y ago
      > It's the exception to the rule when they keep them running. Not necessarily, acquisitions aren't all one kind of thing. The motive for the acquisition greatly impacts the outcome. If it's a technology/IP acquisition or a personnel acquisition, then yes, generally expect that the original company's products will vanish. Why? Because the products were never part of the recognized value of the purchase. If it's a business process acquisition, then it's more likely the product(s) will remain. This depends more on the motives and details of the acquiring vs. the acquired companies. If the acquisition leaves the acquired as a wholly-owned subsidiary, then one can expect the products to remain.
      - pyre 12y ago
        "everything will stay the same" doesn't just mean "doens't close down." Look at Yahoo!'s attempts over the years to integrate products into their ecosystem by forcing users to needs a Yahoo! account for new sign-ups.
        icambron 12y ago
        The parent was responding to your blanket skepticism of "we won't close the doors", not "everything will stay the same".
  - gkmoyn 12y ago
    There are two outcomes after the acquisition of a small company. You can tell based on their announcement message: * "It's been an amazing journey!" --> shut down. * "We have no plans to shut the service down" --> shut down.
danso 12y ago
For reference sake, their previous post, dated Jan. 1, 2014, states that they (the team, presumably) were acquired by Github, and they had a vague promise that things would remain the same: http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-github/ http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-githu... > What does this means to you, our users? Easel continues to run as it has. We’ll continue to provide support and all of our paid plans will continue to enjoy their current benefits. We’re excited to begin this new chapter and hope you’ll love what we have in store. Edit: More reference...their highly upvoted Show HN from two years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4113866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4113866 I've always seen these products as amazing technical achievements...but of limited market. For more programming/scripting-focused devs like me, such a product can never uproot the (perhaps crusty, but trusted) toolset and workflow we've invested in. For visually-focused designers, they get paid plenty do do beautiful designs that are then sliced from Photoshop...so they don't even need to bother with making exportable code. And then for all the others...product managers and etc....the need to prototype a site happens what...at most, once every two to three months...That is not a sustainable rate of use for a tool that inevitably has some bit of learning curve. second edit: durr, OP was acquired by Github not Easel
- calgaryeng 12y ago
  I came here specifically to comment on the previous post. Great minds think alike :)
- ljk 12y ago
  > ...were acquired by Easel you meant acquired by GitHub right? :p
itry 12y ago
What was their license? Can it be forked?
cursed 12y ago
I can only hope that the code will be open sourced. Seemed like a really cool product.
- callmeed 12y ago
  Yes, I think a lot of developers/freelancers/startups desperately need an OS tool like this that they can plug into their larger codebase/CMS. I see it as the evolution of the WYSIWYG/rich-text editor.
bhouston 12y ago
Is Github about to release something similar? This is a really quick shutdown. But I wonder how many active users they had? The less active users, I guess the quicker you can shut things down.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
dceddia 12y ago
I hadn't heard of them, but I just walked through their tutorial called "Improve Your Typography With a Few Simple Guidelines" and was really impressed. It looks like a fun tool. It's a shame to have found it at this point in its existence.
general_failure 12y ago
So, did the acquisition not happen? Is it being integrated as part of github?
pkorzeniewski 12y ago
With every SaaS shutdown I wonder if desktop software will have a big comeback, because it's getting a bit ridiculous - you find a SaaS tool, use it daily, pay for it, store all your work there and one day they just shutdown. Middle finger to you. Sure, you can export your data, but what's the use without the tool? When you have a desktop application, you can use it as long as you want - even if the company goes out. Sure, you won't get support and future updates, but at least you can continue to use it until you find something new.
- cstrahan 12y ago
  Sandstorm will make a big difference in this regard: "Sandstorm is a radically easier way to run your own personal server. It lets you install and manage apps entirely through a web interface — it's as easy as installing apps on your phone." See: https://sandstorm.io/" https://sandstorm.io/" (I'm not directly affiliated with the team, but I am a big fan of Kenton Varda's work in this space, and his work on Cap'n Proto.)
  - AceJohnny2 12y ago
    I'm a big fan of Kenton Varda's work, but my problem with Sandstorm is I don't understand how it's conceptually different and better than, say, Docker.
    - peterwaller 12y ago
      I mean no disrespect, but purely from how you phrased this - I hear things said of this form a lot - this sounds more like your problem than Sandstorm's.
      - apercu 12y ago
        perhaps, but assuming Sandstorm is a commercial venture and desires to make money, it IS their problem to educate prospective customers on their value proposition. we know what docker does.
      - 12y ago
reustle 12y ago
Build a cool product, raise money, hire a team, run out of money, shut down. Why can't we just stop at step 1?
- aleem 12y ago
  They got acquired by GitHub. From their January 2014 blog post [1]: > We’re excited to be joining GitHub to continue to pursue that goal. What does this means to you, our users? Easel continues to run as it has. So more of a case of build a cool product, get a talent acquisition and focus on something more important (I presume). [1]: http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-github/ http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-githu...
- mcintyre1994 12y ago
  In case you didn't know, they got acquired by Github at the start of this year so "get bought by company that doesn't really care about your users" is probably missing.
slantedview 12y ago
This is one of those "why even bother using any startup product" kind of shutdowns. It's beyond old.
recursive 12y ago
In other news, Easel is a thing that exists.
pbhjpbhj 12y ago
Not seen this before, the tutorials still work - http://easel.io/tutorials/shadows?utm_source=easel-blog&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=2013-06-17-three-shadows http://easel.io/tutorials/shadows?utm_source=easel-blog&utm_... - it looks good. Wonder what GitHub will do with the code now?

61 points by jcater 12y ago

ntaso 12y ago

And another story for http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/ http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/ We believe that iterating on design should be straightforward and free of repetitive work. We’re excited to be joining GitHub to continue to pursue that goal. What does this means to you, our users? Easel continues to run as it has. We’ll continue to provide support and all of our paid plans will continue to enjoy their current benefits. We’re excited to begin this new chapter and hope you’ll love what we have in store. [1] Weird. I checked them out yesterday, even thought about signing up. Good that I didn't go through the hassle. [1] http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-github/ http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-githu...

sp332 12y ago
Not sure it's OIJ material, since they at least apologized for deleting their users' data. Of course that's not as good as not-deleting it in the first place. This was posted in 2009 and is unfortunately still relevant: they chose to rip it down posthaste, with a specific amount of “warning time”... it also happened in an environment where this approach was considered legitimate and valid. This is the heart of what I’m trying to get to: they saw absolutely nothing wrong with this. http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1649 http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/1649
sogen 12y ago
Beat me to it

colmvp 12y ago

To be expected after being acquired by Github.

sp332 12y ago
Well it wasn't expected after they said back in January that it wasn't going to happen.
- pyre 12y ago
  You should never believe any of the "we won't close the doors" post-acquire statements. It's the exception to the rule when they keep them running.
  - saidajigumi 12y ago
    > It's the exception to the rule when they keep them running. Not necessarily, acquisitions aren't all one kind of thing. The motive for the acquisition greatly impacts the outcome. If it's a technology/IP acquisition or a personnel acquisition, then yes, generally expect that the original company's products will vanish. Why? Because the products were never part of the recognized value of the purchase. If it's a business process acquisition, then it's more likely the product(s) will remain. This depends more on the motives and details of the acquiring vs. the acquired companies. If the acquisition leaves the acquired as a wholly-owned subsidiary, then one can expect the products to remain.
    - pyre 12y ago
      "everything will stay the same" doesn't just mean "doens't close down." Look at Yahoo!'s attempts over the years to integrate products into their ecosystem by forcing users to needs a Yahoo! account for new sign-ups.
      - icambron 12y ago
        The parent was responding to your blanket skepticism of "we won't close the doors", not "everything will stay the same".
- gkmoyn 12y ago
  There are two outcomes after the acquisition of a small company. You can tell based on their announcement message: * "It's been an amazing journey!" --> shut down. * "We have no plans to shut the service down" --> shut down.

danso 12y ago

For reference sake, their previous post, dated Jan. 1, 2014, states that they (the team, presumably) were acquired by Github, and they had a vague promise that things would remain the same: http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-github/ http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-githu... > What does this means to you, our users? Easel continues to run as it has. We’ll continue to provide support and all of our paid plans will continue to enjoy their current benefits. We’re excited to begin this new chapter and hope you’ll love what we have in store. Edit: More reference...their highly upvoted Show HN from two years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4113866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4113866 I've always seen these products as amazing technical achievements...but of limited market. For more programming/scripting-focused devs like me, such a product can never uproot the (perhaps crusty, but trusted) toolset and workflow we've invested in. For visually-focused designers, they get paid plenty do do beautiful designs that are then sliced from Photoshop...so they don't even need to bother with making exportable code. And then for all the others...product managers and etc....the need to prototype a site happens what...at most, once every two to three months...That is not a sustainable rate of use for a tool that inevitably has some bit of learning curve. second edit: durr, OP was acquired by Github not Easel

calgaryeng 12y ago
I came here specifically to comment on the previous post. Great minds think alike :)
ljk 12y ago
> ...were acquired by Easel you meant acquired by GitHub right? :p

itry 12y ago

What was their license? Can it be forked?

cursed 12y ago

I can only hope that the code will be open sourced. Seemed like a really cool product.

callmeed 12y ago
Yes, I think a lot of developers/freelancers/startups desperately need an OS tool like this that they can plug into their larger codebase/CMS. I see it as the evolution of the WYSIWYG/rich-text editor.

bhouston 12y ago

Is Github about to release something similar? This is a really quick shutdown. But I wonder how many active users they had? The less active users, I guess the quicker you can shut things down.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

dceddia 12y ago

I hadn't heard of them, but I just walked through their tutorial called "Improve Your Typography With a Few Simple Guidelines" and was really impressed. It looks like a fun tool. It's a shame to have found it at this point in its existence.

general_failure 12y ago

So, did the acquisition not happen? Is it being integrated as part of github?

pkorzeniewski 12y ago

With every SaaS shutdown I wonder if desktop software will have a big comeback, because it's getting a bit ridiculous - you find a SaaS tool, use it daily, pay for it, store all your work there and one day they just shutdown. Middle finger to you. Sure, you can export your data, but what's the use without the tool? When you have a desktop application, you can use it as long as you want - even if the company goes out. Sure, you won't get support and future updates, but at least you can continue to use it until you find something new.

cstrahan 12y ago
Sandstorm will make a big difference in this regard: "Sandstorm is a radically easier way to run your own personal server. It lets you install and manage apps entirely through a web interface — it's as easy as installing apps on your phone." See: https://sandstorm.io/" https://sandstorm.io/" (I'm not directly affiliated with the team, but I am a big fan of Kenton Varda's work in this space, and his work on Cap'n Proto.)
- AceJohnny2 12y ago
  I'm a big fan of Kenton Varda's work, but my problem with Sandstorm is I don't understand how it's conceptually different and better than, say, Docker.
  - peterwaller 12y ago
    I mean no disrespect, but purely from how you phrased this - I hear things said of this form a lot - this sounds more like your problem than Sandstorm's.
    - apercu 12y ago
      perhaps, but assuming Sandstorm is a commercial venture and desires to make money, it IS their problem to educate prospective customers on their value proposition. we know what docker does.
    - 12y ago

reustle 12y ago

Build a cool product, raise money, hire a team, run out of money, shut down. Why can't we just stop at step 1?

aleem 12y ago
They got acquired by GitHub. From their January 2014 blog post [1]: > We’re excited to be joining GitHub to continue to pursue that goal. What does this means to you, our users? Easel continues to run as it has. So more of a case of build a cool product, get a talent acquisition and focus on something more important (I presume). [1]: http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-github/ http://blog.easel.io/blog/2014/01/06/easel-acquired-by-githu...
mcintyre1994 12y ago
In case you didn't know, they got acquired by Github at the start of this year so "get bought by company that doesn't really care about your users" is probably missing.

slantedview 12y ago

This is one of those "why even bother using any startup product" kind of shutdowns. It's beyond old.

recursive 12y ago

In other news, Easel is a thing that exists.

pbhjpbhj 12y ago

Not seen this before, the tutorials still work - http://easel.io/tutorials/shadows?utm_source=easel-blog&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=2013-06-17-three-shadows http://easel.io/tutorials/shadows?utm_source=easel-blog&utm_... - it looks good. Wonder what GitHub will do with the code now?