Farewell, neighbors

#1

Post by tswicegood » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:36 PM UTC

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#2

Post by mshron » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:46 PM UTC

Everyblock was a great way to find out about what was going on in my neighborhood. I wish they had given a little more warning; I would have gone back and read some things before they closed their doors. Then again, hard to complain about such an excellent free service.

They lost their founder only a few months ago. I have no inside information, but I can't imagine that this is unrelated.

I wish the whole team the best of luck! They did a great job with Everyblock. I hope they do something else amazing soon.

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#3

Post by pdovy » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:48 PM UTC

This is really too bad, this was a great site and there doesn't really seem to be anything else like it out there. I'm surprised they couldn't come up with a way to make this profitable - and the closure is pretty sudden, wonder what the back story is there.

My neighorhood in Chicago used this pretty extensively and it really helped keep people connected and aware of what was going on. Sad to see that go.

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#4

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:51 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#5

Post by carlosreyes » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:53 PM UTC

Founder's been gone since August of 2012. I wish they'd given more of an explanation behind closing. As of this blogpost: http://www.holovaty.com/writing/goodbye-everyblock/ it seems they were optimistic. Sad to see his writing about acquisitions within today's context.

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#6

Post by uptown » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:54 PM UTC

I'm really stunned by this news - I've always been inspired by what Paul and Adrian created - but I think a news organization was a misaligned parent-company for this kind of site. My "side project" has been working on something in a similar space, so I hope somebody publishes a post-mortem.

Truly sorry to see everyblock go.

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#7

Post by brador » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:56 PM UTC

Startups, please don't do this.

Users can become surprisingly dependent on your site, give a week warning before closing out if you can. It's not too much to ask and gives users time to prepare, move data, swap contact details, backup and such.

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#8

Post by codegeek » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:57 PM UTC

This is disappointing news. When I found out everyblock, it was exciting. I really liked the idea and in fact, had a few ideas in my own head for something similar.

I really really think we need a good way to connect better with neighbors and our neighborhoods. Would love to know more details why Everyblock failed.

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#9

Post by danso » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 4:58 PM UTC

What a shame. Six months ago when Adrian Holovaty left, he told The Verge that he saw EveryBlock living for a "long, long time" and that MSNBC.com were "taking the long view on it":

http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/16/3245325/5-minutes-on-the-v...

And there was little reason to doubt him...I didn't use EB very much but it was an incredibly well executed site, in terms of its mapping and data-aggregation...it obviously lacked a strong editorial focus, but that was ostensibly something that MSNBC would've brought to it.

Another thing to note: it's relatively routine to bash online startups who give less than two months warning that they're closing shop and taking all their data with them (either through a buyout or failure)...EveryBlock's owners, apparently, didn't think a day's notice was needed. Was there really no middle ground between immediate shutdown and keeping the site in low-maintenance mode? It's not like those maps and geodata go out of date quickly.

----

Edit: Just one month ago, EveryBlock had developed a new form of advertising targeted at the neighborhood level: http://blog.everyblock.com/2013/jan/07/neighbor-ads/

I understand that a new ad service isn't just free money, per se (you need a sales staff, or at least a tech person to manage the system)...but shouldn't they wait more than 30 days to see if that is a promising, maintainable form of revenue?

Re: Farewell, neighbors

#10

Post by dharris » Thu, Feb 07, 2013, 5:06 PM UTC

brador wrote: post #7

Startups, please don't do this. Users can become surprisingly dependent on your site, give a week warning before closing out if you can. It's not too much to ask and gives users time to prepare, move data, swap contact details, backup and such.

a) It can be too much to ask. They owe you nothing. b) EveryBlock was bought by NBC. They're hardly a startup anymore. c) If the service is free, watch your stuff. This sort of thing WILL happen.

cf. http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/12/don_t_be_a_free_user/