Instapaper is going independent • Hacker News Board

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#11

Post by dfabulich » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:54 PM UTC

bthdonohue wrote: post #9

brad0 wrote: post #4

From what I’ve seen this is usually what happens when the parent company wants to close the service down. First they spin off the service into its own company then the company shuts down because of a lack of income. Is that what’s happening here? What’s the name of this process?

Hi Brad, Brian from Instapaper here. Just want to reassure you that's not the case here, we intend to operate Instapaper for the foreseeable future. We made this decision because we believe it’s best for both Pinterest and Instapaper.

Why is this better for Pinterest and/or Instapaper?

In the 2016 blog post announcing the acquisition: http://blog.instapaper.com/post/149374303661

> All of these features and developments revolved around the core mission of Instapaper, which is allowing our users to discover, save, and experience interesting web content. In that respect, there is a lot of overlap between Pinterest and Instapaper. Joining Pinterest provides us with the additional resources and experience necessary to achieve that shared mission on a much larger scale.

Is that no longer true? Was it ever true?

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#12

Post by denzil_correa » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:54 PM UTC

rjvbk wrote: post #5

jakobegger wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Background Info for users outside of Europe: Instapaper has been geoblocked for European users for the last two months.

Is it still blocked? It works here, but some geo DBs locate me in Russia because my ISP bought the IP address I use from there recently.

It redirects to : https://www.instapaper.com/gdpr

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#13

Post by chipotle_coyote » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:56 PM UTC

dejv wrote: post #10

I am glad it happened and I hope they are going to find sustainable model. I've been using alternatives for past two months as Instapaper was blocked in EU and all those alternatives are horrible. Good luck guys.

I admit I'm rather hoping they go back to something like the pre-Pinterest "Premium" model, or perhaps better yet, just charge everyone a modest amount across the board.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#14

Post by subpixel » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:56 PM UTC

I can only imagine they dropped the $2.99/mo fee when Pinterest bought it b/c the numbers were inconsequential.

Now that they will need income, they must be betting on the numbers being robust enough to support a team of 5.

But I'm genuinely not sure if I'd pony up when they start charging again.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#15

Post by msh » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:56 PM UTC

jakobegger wrote: post #3

marbletiles wrote: post #2

Was GDPR so terrifying that they had to sell it off?

Background Info for users outside of Europe: Instapaper has been geoblocked for European users for the last two months.

And only gave the users one days notice before locking them out.

I will never again trust instapaper, independent company or not.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#16

Post by dejv » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:57 PM UTC

whalesalad wrote: post #7

brad0 wrote: post #4

From what I’ve seen this is usually what happens when the parent company wants to close the service down. First they spin off the service into its own company then the company shuts down because of a lack of income. Is that what’s happening here? What’s the name of this process?

Instapaper is an anomaly. It's been passed around like a stepchild since birth. I think there is a perceived-value fallacy around the number of people who use it or the intelligence that can be gleaned from knowing what people are bookmarking... but it looks like no one has been able to crack that nut. Every few years it gets passed to someone else. Nothing really ever changes... it just gets a new owner.

It would be great to get insider info on why Pinterest thought it is great acquisition target. I never really understand the point of this deal.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#17

Post by bad_user » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:57 PM UTC

jakobegger wrote: post #3

marbletiles wrote: post #2

Was GDPR so terrifying that they had to sell it off?

Background Info for users outside of Europe: Instapaper has been geoblocked for European users for the last two months.

Pocket (https://getpocket.com) isn’t blocked and is now owned by Mozilla. I’m an European and a heavy Pocket user and it had no downtime.

That Instapaper blocks EU users is fishy to say the least. What it means is that they are probably selling user data and cannot keep doing it without informing users of it.

I can’t express how grateful I am for GDPR.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#18

Post by dejv » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #13

dejv wrote: post #10

I am glad it happened and I hope they are going to find sustainable model. I've been using alternatives for past two months as Instapaper was blocked in EU and all those alternatives are horrible. Good luck guys.

I admit I'm rather hoping they go back to something like the pre-Pinterest "Premium" model, or perhaps better yet, just charge everyone a modest amount across the board.

+1 Instagram is (well it was) my everyday core app, something I can't really live without. I am paying like 30 USD/year for RSS reader and I would gladly pay same amount just to be sure the app is going to be alive in few years.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#19

Post by chmars » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 5:00 PM UTC

subpixel wrote: post #14

I can only imagine they dropped the $2.99/mo fee when Pinterest bought it b/c the numbers were inconsequential. Now that they will need income, they must be betting on the numbers being robust enough to support a team of 5. But I'm genuinely not sure if I'd pony up when they start charging again.

I am fine with paying a reasonable subscription fee for Instapaper. Privacy – if guaranteed – has its value too. (At the moment, Instapaper blocks EU users because it’s obvious violating the GDPR, that’s troublesome …)

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#20

Post by soneca » Mon, Jul 16, 2018, 5:00 PM UTC

whalesalad wrote: post #7

brad0 wrote: post #4

From what I’ve seen this is usually what happens when the parent company wants to close the service down. First they spin off the service into its own company then the company shuts down because of a lack of income. Is that what’s happening here? What’s the name of this process?

Instapaper is an anomaly. It's been passed around like a stepchild since birth. I think there is a perceived-value fallacy around the number of people who use it or the intelligence that can be gleaned from knowing what people are bookmarking... but it looks like no one has been able to crack that nut. Every few years it gets passed to someone else. Nothing really ever changes... it just gets a new owner.

It changes. When Pinterest acquired, it offered all features for free for all users (it used to be a freemium model). I hope it doesnt change back, but I understand if they do. It's fair.