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Ik.me: a free email address for life developed and hosted in Switzerland

infomaniak.com

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Re: Ik.me: a free email address for life developed and hosted in Switzerland

#13

Post by mattmanser »

quattrofan wrote: post #7
shiftpgdn wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. How does this company intend to monetize this product? Email (and photos) are things people highly depend on.

This is in that link “Our business model is about safeguarding data, not selling it. We’re developing our own ecosystem so we never have to compromise on our values. No personal data is analysed or resold to third parties. Our free services such as SwissTransfer, kMeet and ik.me are financed by our paid products and contribute to extending Infomaniak’s reach.” Marc Oehler, COO at Infomaniak"

So, selling your email content and personal data when he sells his company in 5 years time?

Re: Ik.me: a free email address for life developed and hosted in Switzerland

#17

Post by tluyben2 »

p1necone wrote: post #12

Is there a https://killedbygoogle.com/ equivalent for startups that promised 'forever'/'lifetime' service and then shut down a few years later?

It is not easy to do something 'lifetime' obviously. I set out to create a service 'for life'[0], it is 15 years old next year, it has loyal clients and it's getting an update (rewrite, modern skin, app, modern features, launching 1/1/'21) for it's 15th birthday. But although I promise never to sell (out; no ads, no data sales etc) and have the entire product (source etc) in escrow, anyone can break their word + contract obviously. I keep promising lifetime anyway and hope that others who do do not break their word easily either.

[0] https://flexlists.com

Re: Ik.me: a free email address for life developed and hosted in Switzerland

#18

Post by passerby1 »

p1necone wrote: post #12

Is there a https://killedbygoogle.com/ equivalent for startups that promised 'forever'/'lifetime' service and then shut down a few years later?

Basically no startup is by definition last forever. Either bought (and sometimes killed by kind of 'google' then) or more or less silently dies of lack of money. 1 in 100 (probably a very wrong number) can become a real company. So basically all the startups are candidates into the list you've mentioned.

Re: Ik.me: a free email address for life developed and hosted in Switzerland

#19

Post by nicopappl »

Infomaniak is a well known Swiss hosting company that existed for over 20 years. I'm a bit surprised to see this name here in hacker news. I would be surprised if this wasn't a long-term move. Simply because claiming "free for life" and back down would be disastrous for their reputations.

Re: Ik.me: a free email address for life developed and hosted in Switzerland

#20

Post by rusticpenn »

mattmanser wrote: post #13
quattrofan wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is in that link “Our business model is about safeguarding data, not selling it. We’re developing our own ecosystem so we never have to compromise on our values. No personal data is analysed or resold to third parties. Our free services such as SwissTransfer, kMeet and ik.me are financed by our paid products and contribute to extending Infomaniak’s reach.” Marc Oehler, COO at Infomaniak"

So, selling your email content and personal data when he sells his company in 5 years time?

Its apparently a 20 year old company, which is pretty old by internet standards.
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