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Twitpic is shutting down

blog.twitpic.com

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Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#91

Post by troydavis »

IgorPartola wrote: post #15
DanBlake wrote: post #7

So, there is a bunch of info we dont have... But would it not make sense to just rebrand? From a preliminary search on twitter, there is a huge amount of users still using twitpic. Seems like this is a biz that could/should make millions a year with some cost reductions and run mostly on autopilot. Also, what happens to the millions of pictures previously hosted with these guys? Even if you can backup/export all your…

My thoughts exactly. Why is the trademark so important to them? And as I read it, Twitter never demanded that they stop using the name, just that they do not apply for the registered trademark. This decision seems rash.

I just posted this comment on the blog post itself. It's awaiting moderation:

--- Could you explain more about this:

> A few weeks ago Twitter contacted our legal demanding that we abandon our trademark application or risk losing access to their API.

Why not abandon the trademark application but keep the service online?

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#92

Post by _puk »

They could always go back to twitter and propose dropping the lawsuit if they change their name?

Yes I know Twitpic is the brand, but if they were to simply DNS redirect Twitpic.com to ickleimages.com [1](available!) then twitter wouldn't be littered with old broken images, and the company could work on pushing the new brand. They do now support more than twitter after all.

If it's a viable business, it seems crazy to throw it away to prove a point that many probably saw as an issue from the outset (That is the use of twit* for a service that leeches off twitter's success).

I'm sure changing every single link to serve twittermademedoit.gif would be frowned upon.. but then the company isn't going to exist any more..

disclaimer. I've never used Twitpic before, nor posted on twitter so may be missing something..

[1] http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ickle

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#93

Post by theoutlander »

cwyers wrote: post #73
theoutlander wrote: post #67

Why didn't Twitter acquire them instead? Did they try that and fail?

Why would they? What assets does Twitpic have that Twitter wants? They built a "better" service on their own. They don't need the brand Twitpic. What's left?

That's true. I imagined more on the lines of a talent acquisition.

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#94

Post by 83457 »

Sounds like there is either more to this or this is a strategy. I'm guessing they would like to sell but can't do to possibly of being sued by Twitter over their name. Not so much that Twitpic can't continue but they can't get further funding or bought out due to risk.

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#95

Post by billmalarky »

robert_tweed wrote: post #62
daigoba66 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Don't base your entire business on another business' product. That is a terrible generalization. That pretty much covers every ISV ever. And large companies like Microsoft, Google, and Apple all have a history of "Embrace, extend, and extinguish" when it comes to closing out 3rd parties. However I think your point is valid for companies like Twitter, and to a slightly lesser extent Facebook. These companies don't h…

Indeed, the obvious counter-example to that lesson is imgur.

Imgur has taken clear steps to hedge itself from its dependency on reddit though.

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#96

Post by Double_Cast »

pchristensen wrote: post #81
bambax wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If words have meaning and if we try to stay away from hyperbole, you are not dependent on Chick-fil-A, never have been, never will be.

What would you suggest (more for e.g. Twitter users than my example)? Reliant? Used to? The whole concept of dependence is that substitutes aren't perfect. Windows/Mac, Android/iOS, emacs/vim - no one is dependent on those, but a lot of people would be pissed if any one of them went away.

I would say that users have a vested interest Twitter's continued service.

Also, I don't think substitution has anything to do with dependence. If "dependence" signified inferior substitutes, I'd expect "independence" to signify fungibility rather than autonomy.

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#98

Post by avalaunch »

pchristensen wrote: post #81
bambax wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If words have meaning and if we try to stay away from hyperbole, you are not dependent on Chick-fil-A, never have been, never will be.

What would you suggest (more for e.g. Twitter users than my example)? Reliant? Used to? The whole concept of dependence is that substitutes aren't perfect. Windows/Mac, Android/iOS, emacs/vim - no one is dependent on those, but a lot of people would be pissed if any one of them went away.

The issue is obviously one of semantics but your concept of dependence is not the widely accepted concept. Dependence means completely reliant on - no substitutions would do. The thing you're dependent on is a requirement, not a preference. For example, you are dependent on food. Remove food from the equation and you will perish. You are not dependent on Chick-fil-A.

Twitpic is dependent on twitter. There are no substitutions that they can make and still survive. They can't port to a service comparable to twitter as there are none.

EDIT: Whether or not users are dependent on twitter is up for date. I imagine it depends on their use case.

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#99

Post by dkarapetyan »

Lets put this in perspective. Some twitter pictures are going to disappear. In the grand scheme of things the people who had the luxury of using this service will survive just fine. Please stop the navel gazing.

Re: Twitpic is shutting down

#100

Post by snowwrestler »

danbruc wrote: post #12
DanBlake wrote: post #7

So, there is a bunch of info we dont have... But would it not make sense to just rebrand? From a preliminary search on twitter, there is a huge amount of users still using twitpic. Seems like this is a biz that could/should make millions a year with some cost reductions and run mostly on autopilot. Also, what happens to the millions of pictures previously hosted with these guys? Even if you can backup/export all your…

Sound to me like they are trying to see if Twitter is willing to change their mind when they threaten to shut the service down and break all the tweets. Rebranding would be an obvious option but they would still have to keep to current domain alive in order to not break the links. Could they abandon the trademark and still keep the domain or could Twitter just grab the trademark and based on that later also try to cl…

Twitter could issue them a license on their brand name, with the contract limiting its use to catching and redirecting old links. As long as there is a nominal license fee, that should satisfy the trademark lawyers.
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