Springpad shutting down

[phitsc]

https://springpad.com/blog/2014/05/announcement-springpad-shutting-down/

I have been using the service, although not to such a level that this would be a real problem for me. But then again, you shouldn't rely on free services, should you?

[40hz]

Nice to see they're going to provide an export tool prior to shutting down. A bit of honourable behavior in a world where abrupt and barely unannounced terminations of service are the norm.

And as noted above, further indication that "free" is not, and never will be, a viable business model.

[phitsc]

I find it difficult to understand how you can't come up with a sustainable business model when you have a service that works and 5 million potential customers.

Is it so obvious that starting to charge a reasonable fee for your service is going to turn so many users away that it is not even worth a try?

[wraith808]

I find it difficult to understand how you can't come up with a sustainable business model when you have a service that works and 5 million potential customers.

Is it so obvious that starting to charge a reasonable fee for your service is going to turn so many users away that it is not even worth a try?

Same thing that we were talking about in that other thread about the gaming bubble.  People aren't willing to pay for quality until quality is taken away.  Or put forth in a different light.  A good example is The Old Reader.  And XMarks.  Both were/are excellent service.  Both tried to charge.  Neither got biters.  So both said they had to shut down.  XMarks was bought, and now people pay.  The Old Reader- people started paying once they said they would shut down.

People don't want to pay for what they can get for free.  And in a lot of ways, it's the services' fault.  They start free to get critical mass, then find out they can't get people to pay.  Rather than building it slowly and based on a firm business plan.  Everyone wants to think they can be Google, but then find out the hard way that they can't be.

And thanks for the heads up... I've been using the service like you, but haven't come to rely on it.  Trying to break the chains from services that I don't *have* to use that are free.

[40hz]

It's the age old challenge of turning a "user" into a "customer."

So simple  

And so difficult.

And also thanks for the heads up. I'm involved in a project whose team (not my idea - I wanted to set up an ownCloud server) decided to use Springpad. Because "why spend money when we don't have to?

Looks like the coordinators have some collaboration platform reengineering to do....and pronto.

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Note: Wraith is spot on the sugar about the importance of managing user expectations. Unfortunately, most times you're trying to argue for economic reality against a backdrop of competing offers that continue to insist that 2+2 = 22!

People hear what they want to hear. And sometimes we all have pay the price for it.