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AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

zdnet.com

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Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#11

Post by watmough »

handelaar wrote: post #9
Rotor wrote: post #4

I'm not referring to the new Delicious changes but the actual release itself, users still cannot login or retrieve passwords (including myself). I've been over at the beta blog trying to get answers and judging by the amount of major issues, this does not look like a well planned release: http://deliciousengineering.blogspot.com/

And they're still blaming losing god-only-knows how many accounts entirely on the users. "Missed the opt-in emails" my arse.

I logged in and transferred my bookmarks ages ago, and it seems to be working fine for me. Obviously, they've utterly jacked the site overall, but the bookmarks part still seems to at least contain my links.

I never used the tags bundles, so I won't miss those.

Does this mean all the API is now broken?

Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#12

Post by ChrisArchitect »

a rocky week for sure, but I don't see major grounds for hate. Heavy user/dependent on Delicious for my bookmarks etc. By day 2 I was relatively running smoothly again. It was all expected and they listed the features that are still in progress and I've already seen some of the things (like FF plugin) start to work again. So..... I don't see where the ZDnet hate and user account stuff is coming from. What, all the users that didn't really use the service and then saw tech news about the relaunch and decided to visit the site again only to find their accounts gone/not migrated? The warnings for migration were borderline intense/annoying the past month or so....and that was months after the emails and notifications when AVOS jumped in.

Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#14

Post by tptacek »

Good time to be Pinboard!

I'm sympathetic to the "real names only" terms that some services run under, but for a bookmark sharing service that policy provides no end-user value. This is a service I think you should pay money for, instead of allowing yourself to be the product the company is selling to others.

Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#15

Post by cooperadymas »

vutekst wrote: post #6

This debacle is what made me finally switch to Pinboard. Well, that and I like the Pinboard guy's developer blog. http://blog.pinboard.in/

There are only a couple of services/products I would used based on the people running them. Pinboard falls into this category. The developer is active with the service, very open and honest, and gives great customer service.

If another similar service offered significantly more features or an otherwise better product I might be convinced to switch, but it would take a lot of convincing.

The other two products that come to mind as fitting in this category are Sublime Text and Balsamiq mockups. Both are great products, but are backed by even better companies / people.

In the offline world, I feel the same way about my (State Farm) insurance agent. His office has bent over backward when necessary to ensure things are taken care of.

Great customer service, honesty, and listening to the customer goes a long ways toward building a successful business. This is why Pinboard will thrive and profit while Delicious continues to sputter.

Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#16

Post by teej »

jonmc12 wrote: post #13

Writing has been on the wall for some time. Surprised anyone that uses Delicious seriously did not switch to Pinboard or equivalent. No sure Avos is to blame so much as delicious users not being proactive about the inevitable.

The reaction of Delicious users is a product of poor communication on behalf of AVOS. They wanted it to sound like they were simply taking the reigns when, in fact, they were building a new product. Nothing from this email indicates that the old delicious is going away:

"Dear Delicious User, This is our final notice to let you know that Delicious is transitioning to a new owner, AVOS. To continue using Delicious, you must agree to let Yahoo! transfer your bookmarks and Delicious account information to AVOS by September 23, 2011. After your bookmarks and account information have been transferred, you will be subject to the AVOS terms of service and privacy policy."

Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#17

Post by seunosewa »

aespinoza wrote: post #8

I think this needs a little more thought. Think about this: Delicious doesn't really have a successful business model (if any). Yahoo! was about to kill it. Now AVOS picks it up. Why would a startup pick it up? There is no way they can make a successful business out of the current state of the site. But Delicious does have one thing: a big set of users and their bookmarks. Information. It is obvious that AVOS was goi…

Here's a risk-free and inexpensive business model: just put Google ads on the website.

Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#18

Post by aespinoza »

DanielRibeiro wrote: post #5
teej wrote: post #3

I can understand why hardcore lovers of the old Delicious are upset at the "changes". Change can be really tough if you've stuck with a site through that many years. But in the end, the old Delicious isn't changing - it's dead. What now exists is an entirely new site under the delicious coat of arms. What users dont understand is that there is no "going back". It's upsetting that your beloved site is dead, but mourn…

I use delicious on a daily basis, and I feel that the problem it solves is very much alive. Maybe I am a bit of a power user, as I search and tag (and love the automatic tag suggestions) all my delicious links from a FF plugin. But I believe it is still a solution for a very persistent problem, and as long as it solves it, it will be able to survive very well in today's web.

I agree. I use delicious on a daily basis. The problem it solves is there.

The main problem is the fact that they are doing a crappy job at releasing. I don't think they planned this very well.

Re: AVOS’ Delicious Disaster: Lessons from a Complete Failure

#19

Post by [deleted] »

DanielRibeiro wrote: post #5
teej wrote: post #3

I can understand why hardcore lovers of the old Delicious are upset at the "changes". Change can be really tough if you've stuck with a site through that many years. But in the end, the old Delicious isn't changing - it's dead. What now exists is an entirely new site under the delicious coat of arms. What users dont understand is that there is no "going back". It's upsetting that your beloved site is dead, but mourn…

I use delicious on a daily basis, and I feel that the problem it solves is very much alive. Maybe I am a bit of a power user, as I search and tag (and love the automatic tag suggestions) all my delicious links from a FF plugin. But I believe it is still a solution for a very persistent problem, and as long as it solves it, it will be able to survive very well in today's web.

[deleted]
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