Instapaper Premium is now free for everyone

Post by bthdonohue » Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 7:00 PM UTC

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #43

bthdonohue wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brian from Instapaper here. We have no plans to shut the app down, and a big part of the value the app provides (parser improvements, aggregate information on links) requires the ongoing operation of the service.

Hello, Brian! I hope you will take my skepticism in good humor. While I would delight in Instapaper's prolonged availability, I trust you are aware of the widespread perception that acquisition is where startups go to die [0], to say nothing of the fact that some of Instapaper's competitors have also fallen to the wayside [1]. The final red-light comes from the tendency to make services free right before they shut do…

Post by wmeredith » Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 7:11 PM UTC

bthdonohue wrote: post #30

mtmail wrote: post #2

On the one hand I like new free features, especially the search. On the other hand Instapaper got acquired by Pinterest ( http://blog.instapaper.com/post/149374303661 ) and if they no longer make money from premium subscriptions and the service is ads-free, then how will they generate revenue? Selling publishers premium spots in my reading queue?

Hi there, Brian from Instapaper here. We will not be serving advertisements in your Instapaper queue. The value Instapaper provides to Pinterest in terms of parser capabilities and aggregate information about links is enough to justify the small operation cost of running the service. I'm happy to answer any other questions you have. Brian

Post by mitchell209 » Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 7:19 PM UTC

dmux wrote: post #64

michaelmrose wrote: post #44

I stopped paying for their service as I was broke and they kept billing my account leading to several insufficient funds fees on an overdrawn account that they wouldn't stop billing. Can't say I'd even use their service for free.

This doesn't really sound like it was their fault.

Post by bradyo » Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 7:23 PM UTC

phmagic wrote: post #14

purple-dragon wrote: post #4

Does anyone have experience to share re: Instapaper vs. Pocket (or something better)?

I was a heavy user of Instapaper and switched to Pocket. The reading interface for Instapaper is much better. Pocket has more clients, browser plug ins, etc so you can take it anywhere (When I switched Instapaper Android wasn't available). Both are lame when bookmarking things like github repos. I really want these services to open up their engine so that I can write a plug in for displaying bookmarked gists or repos…

Post by purple-dragon » Tue, Nov 01, 2016, 7:29 PM UTC

bradyo wrote: post #68

purple-dragon wrote: post #4

Does anyone have experience to share re: Instapaper vs. Pocket (or something better)?

Just use wallabag. Its the FOSS / optionally self-hosted alternative. Haven't we learned what storing data in proprietary services leads to?