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The next generation of Instapaper

marco.org

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Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#111

Post by Y0YO »

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…

I think Instapaper for iPhone is more polished and minimal compared to the new Pocket and that's why I like it. However, the web version is extremely trouble and useless and needs some work.

But when someone of my family or friends asked me to what should he use. I always says Pocket, because it is easy and not classy like Instapaper and don't forget the updates too.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#113

Post by wklauss »

achompas wrote: post #77
wklauss wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

We are not arguing that is a bad business tactic or that its not a good move if you want to attract customers. Just that it is a dick move.

It can be both a dick move AND a good boost for Pocket.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#114

Post by wklauss »

kybernetyk wrote: post #80
wklauss wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That doesn't mean its not a dick move. Especially considering the way it was phrased.

Again. I'm not saying that this is not something Pocket shouldn't do, just that in this case, and considering Marco's dedication to this, it's rude. But business is business, I get that.

Dick move and good-for-business moves aren't mutually exclusive.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#115

Post by staticfish »

sgdesign wrote: post #65
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…

How does Loren Brichter moving to Facebook affect Letterpress in any way? Are you worried you'll now be getting pop-ups asking you to "like the word XYLOPHONE on Facebook"?

Not really the same thing. Marco sold the product to Betaworks Inc. Loren went to facebook as a private individual.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#116

Post by bookwormAT »

benparsons wrote: post #94
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…

I have no particular loyalty to Instapaper, but their major feature over Pocket, for me, is sending a compilation to kindle as an ebook (Kindle sees it as a magazine, complete with TOC.) People have been asking for this feature from Pocket for a while now ( http://help.getpocket.com/customer/portal/questions/286894-k... ), but without much encouragement that it will appear.

Here you go: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tchami.kin...

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#118

Post by twog »

niggler wrote: post #22
nsxwolf wrote: post #15

Anyone want to guess at the valuation? Betaworks didn't spend much on Digg, wonder how deep their pockets are.

Digg was a brand acquisition (just for the name); Betaworks wasn't interested in the tech

From what I can tell, thats basically what Betaworks are buying from Instapaper as well. Its not "technically challenging".

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#119

Post by lostlogin »

dpcx wrote: post #107
lostlogin wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has there been some sort of falling out between Arment, Siracusa and Gruber - they all left 5by5 within a short time of the Gruber move, and in my opinion their shows are now worse.

Gruber left in February 2012 [1]. Hypercritical continued until December [2]. Build and Analyze the same [3]. Siracusa and Arment both said they thought the shows had run the course. Siracusa is also a regular on The Incomparable [4]. [1]: http://5by5.tv/talkshow [2]: http://5by5.tv/hypercritical [3]: http://5by5.tv/buildanalyze [4]: http://5by5.tv/incomparable

Nicely referenced. I just noted that Siracusa and Marco seemed to start shows very soon after leaving and despite saying things about probably coming back they haven't.

Re: The next generation of Instapaper

#120

Post by monsur »

mtgx wrote: post #83
incision wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't understand why people care so much about the "longevity" of an app that at most saves their data for a week, like Pocket, or something like Google's Keep, a notes app. I have thousands of items in Pocket going back a year and a half.

And I have hundreds of "important" bookmarks in Chrome that I'll probably never check again. Let's face it, if you aren't reading it in the first week, you probably never will - except maybe that one article you plan on reading when you're travelling a few weeks from now. But even then you might forget all about it, with all the news coming it.

This is absolutely right. We are drowning in an tidal wave of books/articles to read, videos to watch, podcasts to listen to etc. Trying to keep up is a fools' errand we must admit to sooner or later. The best we can do is give in and hope to drink a few sips from this ocean.
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