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The next generation of Instapaper

marco.org

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Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#71

Post by eliajf »

rkudeshi wrote: post #3

I wonder how much this has to do with the rise of Pocket over the last year. It's no secret that Pocket has improved dramatically since rebranding a year ago. And I'm sure most people who are looking for their first "read-later" app are trying Pocket (free) before buying Instapaper ($5). Personally speaking, I bought Instapaper for myself and gifted it to a few other people over the years, but I switched to Pocket a…

The analysis on his part had to be simple. He has two products right now, one of which generates $2.40 one time and then people use it for years. His second product pays him $1.40 per customer every month. The second product is far more stable long term.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#72

Post by fakeer »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #69
incision wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Pocket, although having its own benefits, is free. Any service with ongoing costs (parsing servers) that charges nothing for their app has me questioning their longevity. Prior to the name change, Pocket offered a $3 "Pro" version. I'm guessing that Pocket means to be acquired eventually. Pulse runs a free app parsing/serving from App Engine and took in $9.8M in funding before being acquired by LinkedIn for $90M. Po…

I'm guessing that Pocket means to be acquired eventually. And those acquisitions work out so well for the product, especially smaller, more niche products. If they've taken that much money, they are going to have to provide a strategy to monetize. If they are doing it for free, it means they are selling analytics about what you are reading to somebody else. For myself, I'll pay for the app.

Even paying apps go for for a sale, less often though. For me Pocket is so seamlessly integrated with my online presence that it will of course to see it go(considering acquisition will kill it or somehow make it unusable - ad etc) but the ease/swiftness makes to very hard to switch to any other service paying or non-paying.

One example is their Android focus which, sometimes I funnily think, developers like Marco despise(no, read ignore :P ).

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#73

Post by fakeer »

lispython wrote: post #68

In the article "Talent acquisitions" http://www.marco.org/2012/07/20/talent-acquisitions Marco criticized Pulp, Wallet, Sparrow and he wrote: Instapaper has had multiple similar inquiries from large companies over the last few years. We’ve never gotten very far in talks because I don’t want Instapaper to shut down, I don’t want to move my family across the country, and they didn’t want to pay enough — for them, they’…

I think the thought process is simple - you run a paid service and it's good, liked by people and you see another service, free, being acquired(acquihired most likely) and you feel bad about it(not jealousy necessarily) and you give your opinion and how that's bad for app ecysystem and of course for the users who depend on them. But when an opportunity comes to selling the app you just sell it if the price is good and that's a known thing.

OF course in the blog post after sell you mention how you'll still be influential and all.

Though not al sell/buys are bad. Evernote bought Skitch and now I like it more.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#74

Post by leanhtuan »

fakeer wrote: post #73
lispython wrote: post #68

In the article "Talent acquisitions" http://www.marco.org/2012/07/20/talent-acquisitions Marco criticized Pulp, Wallet, Sparrow and he wrote: Instapaper has had multiple similar inquiries from large companies over the last few years. We’ve never gotten very far in talks because I don’t want Instapaper to shut down, I don’t want to move my family across the country, and they didn’t want to pay enough — for them, they’…

I think the thought process is simple - you run a paid service and it's good, liked by people and you see another service, free, being acquired(acquihired most likely) and you feel bad about it(not jealousy necessarily) and you give your opinion and how that's bad for app ecysystem and of course for the users who depend on them. But when an opportunity comes to selling the app you just sell it if the price is good an…

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Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#75

Post by wklauss »

jrockway wrote: post #53
wklauss wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have done the same as Marco. It was unasked for and unnecessary. Pocket is a great app but so its Instapaper and Marco has done a tremendous job over the years by keeping it in shape by himself (with exception of the Android app). This is a way on pissing all over the the efforts of a independent developer. Just because.

It's a "royal dick move" to allow users to copy data between competing applications? Uh, OK.

No, it's a royal dick move to announce it right when the competitor just switch hands, especially in this case when your competitor happens to be -up to this moment- an independent guy that has done this project for years on his own.

The service is not being terminated, that info has been posted for a long time... so again, unnecessary and unasked for. That's all.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#76

Post by kylesethgray »

incision wrote: post #28
rkudeshi wrote: post #3

I wonder how much this has to do with the rise of Pocket over the last year. It's no secret that Pocket has improved dramatically since rebranding a year ago. And I'm sure most people who are looking for their first "read-later" app are trying Pocket (free) before buying Instapaper ($5). Personally speaking, I bought Instapaper for myself and gifted it to a few other people over the years, but I switched to Pocket a…

Speaking of Pocket, I'm baffled by their lack of (recently upgraded to simply lacking) sharing functionality and full-text search. Passing a Pocket link to someone without a Pocket account leads to a sign-up page. If the recipient already has an account or goes to the trouble to sign up, they're redirected to their own queue, not the linked article. If the recipient goes to the trouble to sign up and pocket the same…

>Passing a Pocket link to someone without a Pocket account leads to a sign-up page.

uhh… No it doesn't

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#77

Post by achompas »

wklauss wrote: post #75
jrockway wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a "royal dick move" to allow users to copy data between competing applications? Uh, OK.

No, it's a royal dick move to announce it right when the competitor just switch hands, especially in this case when your competitor happens to be -up to this moment- an independent guy that has done this project for years on his own. The service is not being terminated, that info has been posted for a long time... so again, unnecessary and unasked for. That's all.

No, it's a royal dick move to announce it right when the competitor just switch hands [sic]

Really? This is an interesting post on what is ostensibly a website about entrepreneurship, especially one that constantly discusses customer acquisition.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#78

Post by achompas »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #50

I’m saddened by this announcement. I’m an early Instapaper paying subscriber, a The Magazine paying subscriber of the first hour, I’ve read every article on his blog, I’ve listened to all the episodes of Build & Analyze, Accidental Tech and the Neutral podcasts — I’ve spread the word every way I could and engaged with the sponsors of the shows. I became a Tumblr member because of him. Marco has always talked about ho…

What are you worried about? Both Loren and Marco are independent developers who need to put food on the table. At some point you need to make sustainable decisions; sometimes that means leaving VC-funded companies, and sometimes that means joining them or selling to them.

They've demonstrated an ability to produce excellent work. They probably won't go away, and if they do, we get a new, strong voice for independent developers. We win either way.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#79

Post by rdouble »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #50

I’m saddened by this announcement. I’m an early Instapaper paying subscriber, a The Magazine paying subscriber of the first hour, I’ve read every article on his blog, I’ve listened to all the episodes of Build & Analyze, Accidental Tech and the Neutral podcasts — I’ve spread the word every way I could and engaged with the sponsors of the shows. I became a Tumblr member because of him. Marco has always talked about ho…

Did Loren Brichter confirm he was moving to Facebook or is he just "helping out?"

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#80

Post by kybernetyk »

wklauss wrote: post #75
jrockway wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a "royal dick move" to allow users to copy data between competing applications? Uh, OK.

No, it's a royal dick move to announce it right when the competitor just switch hands, especially in this case when your competitor happens to be -up to this moment- an independent guy that has done this project for years on his own. The service is not being terminated, that info has been posted for a long time... so again, unnecessary and unasked for. That's all.

Dick move?

Hmm, last time I checked this is still business and it's a good tactical move to take your main competitor's customers/users when there's a good opportunity.

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