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Instapaper is going independent

blog.instapaper.com

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Re: Instapaper is going independent

#91

Post by Chilinot »

howitworks wrote: post #79
zulrah wrote: post #71

Instapaper is still not available to users in EU. It's been to months. I started to use Pocket because of this and now I don't think I'm coming back.

I don't mean to sound trite or dismissive, but the blame should be directed at EU legislators. If I create another software product I will explicitly and permanently make it unavailable to EU residents.

If your product can't follow the GDPR legislation then I'm glad you don't allow EU residents to use it. Since you are most likely abusing the privacy of your customers.

While I'm a bit annoyed at the amount of paperwork and side systems that need to be constructed to ensure proper handling of personal data that I have had to implement, I can only see GDPR as something positive for the people.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#92

Post by throwawaymath »

ghostly_s wrote: post #62
throwawaymath wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at Brian's comment history: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=bthdonohue . He's not active on HN, but he jumps in for quick damage control and "clarification" when people have vaguely privacy-related or operational questions about Instapaper. When followup questions are posed, particularly more difficult ones, he never responds. So I find it very unlikely you're going to get an answer here, because this ac…

And how does that factor in to the acquisition or spinoff?

See the last paragraph of my comment. That's my hypothesis.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#93

Post by ergothus »

mbesto wrote: post #36
dfabulich wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 pr…

M&A guy here - despite what finance people will say, a majority of acquisitions do not end up realizing their planned strategy.

Good to know, but to this specific case, if someone (basically) says "This is not a spinoff to let it die, but to flourish on it's own", it's nice to have them explain why they are credible when they (or previous company rep) previously said "This is not a purchase to let it die, to but to flourish as part of the collective". Just give an actual reason why this time will be different. I already know not to trust M&A statements unless they give specific plans.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#94

Post by joshenders »

mstolpm wrote: post #44
marbletiles wrote: post #2

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

At least, they have burned a lot of trust from once loyal EU users. And the GDPR "shutdown" for EU citizens with no given warning was a topic in every major newspaper here, not only computer/internet focused sites and papers.

Burned a lot of trust? How is this a violation of trust? If a company can’t meet their GDPR obligations under this law, EU citizens have successfully voiced through legislation that they don’t want these businesses operating in the EU. You can’t have your tea and drink it too. This is a consequence.

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#96

Post by ergothus »

troydavis wrote: post #80
m_fayer wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great analysis, thanks. Your points make me wonder... If you're running a small successful and independent sass, that respects its users, and you want to move on. What do you do, if your only options are selling to a large company that won't respect your users, or shutting down? Is it plausible to find a buyer that will honestly maintain a user-respecting ethos? If not, then it seems that there are no good choices fo…

I know of one company which explicitly has this approach: http://tiny.website/ > We won't try to flip your business in 3-5 years. We won't mess with your team and culture. We won't lock you into golden handcuffs or push complex deal terms. We won't ruin your life with months of unnecessary due diligence. We won't renegotiate and grind you on terms. > … > We started Tiny to create the buyer we wish we could have sold…

I started reading your comment assuming you were stating a small business that was making a pre-commitment not to "sell out". I was pleasantly surprised to see you were highlighting a company that is "safe" to "sell out" TO.

Even though I hate the fallout that impacts me as a user, I'm generally happy to see financial success come to those that made something cool (if you didn't make promises to the contrary). Committing to NOT selling out tends to just tie the hands (and wallets) of those that are giving me what I want, so that doesn't seem to be a good option. But this is a good option, at least as advertised: Sell out to someone that will try to make sure your customers don't resent the results.

Looking over their list of companies I don't believe I've worked with any of them - does anyone have actual experiences to share?

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#97

Post by draw_down »

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.

Sure, but why should we believe that’s related to the sale?

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#98

Post by quest88 »

clapsclaps wrote: post #30
marbletiles wrote: post #2

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

I was a hardcore Instapaper premium user from the early beginnings. Nothing stopped me for continuing using the app, BUT the GDPR. When you have duties of protect user's data and you don't comply with it, I'm done. Months ago I changed to Pocket (Mozilla owned) and I'm ok with that. I missed little stuff like the text render and other minimum things. Just wanted to say that because protecting user's privacy is also a…

If you felt strongly about user privacy I'm surprised you waited until GDPR. Why didn't you switch before?

Re: Instapaper is going independent

#100

Post by ergothus »

joshenders wrote: post #94
mstolpm wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least, they have burned a lot of trust from once loyal EU users. And the GDPR "shutdown" for EU citizens with no given warning was a topic in every major newspaper here, not only computer/internet focused sites and papers.

Burned a lot of trust? How is this a violation of trust? If a company can’t meet their GDPR obligations under this law, EU citizens have successfully voiced through legislation that they don’t want these businesses operating in the EU. You can’t have your tea and drink it too. This is a consequence.

1) But why can't they meet their GDPR obligations? Are they doing something they've not been up front about?

2) Giving (reportedly) one day notice that they are shutting down access is definitely a trust hit. They should have known long before that.

I don't use Instapaper and I'm not in the EU, but those of these points are raised elsewhere in this thread, and both seem valid concerns in terms of "trust" regardless of whether you approve/disapprove of the GDPR.

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