So it's time to try this backup tool https://github.com/Stantheman/Twitpic-Backup
Thanks for the shoutout! Twitpic-Backup is pretty old but will definitely get your images. Props to pcgMongo for today's PR:
Twitpic is shutting down
121–130 of 155 posts
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Twitter doesn't give a fuck about developers now that they have sufficiently used them to build their platform and brand. I really hate that this is the standard model for building startups these days. Make a free service, grow your userbase using investment money and by encouraging developers to build on your platform, then once users and developers are dependent on the platform, start littering it with ads, selli…
I'd say it's more the shortsightedness of the developers who build on others' platform. It's OK to tag on but you've got to make sure that your core value prop is not a value added feature to that platform. Twitpic could have branched to something else 2-3 years ago, but they did not, and as a result, is eliminated from the game.
Agree that it's shortsightedness.
But I think the problem goes much deeper: We keep building one-offs. Twitter - a one-off messaging service. Instagram - a one-off photo sharing app.
This is one of the reasons I started Buddycloud. We'd already built a nice location and social app but eschewed the VC cash to, dare I use the word, pivot, and build a different way of building apps.
Instead of building another one-off social-location-system like Foursquare, we decided it better to build a federated platform that others can then start building on. The federation and run-it-yourself mentality means that our users don't end up in the Twitpic scenario and that there are always other suppliers that will host your pictures in a compatible way. In a way that fosters competition between providers without needing to resort to switching friction cost to keep users.
In the Twitpic case, the buddycloud media server is designed to be a plug-in federated media hosting provider for each domain. Don't like how one provider is dealing with you data? Just switch.
It's not been easy to get this far, but we're starting to see traction from ex-app.net devs who are looking for something a bit more open that they can also run themselves (as a Docker container). And I still believe that the real solutions will be based on federated open systems that form a foundation so that developers can innovate further up the stack.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 subs…
> Dependence means completely reliant on - no substitutions would do.
I disagree with that. Package managers have concepts like optional dependencies or alternatives (only 1 of multiple options required). Anyway, you seem to be speaking of dependencies in a technical sense - build dependencies, package dependencies, etc. In a more general sense it is quite normal to say something like "I depend on my bike to get to work" even if I could take the subway or use Uber, or "I depend on YouTube for my daily dose of cat videos" even though you wouldn't really die without them.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
>>> My thoughts exactly. Why is the trademark so important to them? Because it would protect them from Twitter going after them for infringement on Twitter's trademarks. I'm sure Twitter knew they had no argument for the "Likelihood of Confusion" Test and TwitPic would've been granted its trademark in due time. From a legal perspective, it looks like Twitter felt if they got trademark protection, they wouldn't have a…
>I'm sure Twitter knew they had no argument for the "Likelihood of Confusion" Test and TwitPic would've been granted its trademark in due time. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but are you saying it's not confusing that TwitPic is not owned by Twitter? (At least from a legal standpoint)? I always assumed Twitpic was owned by Twitter, and it seems many other HN members did too. I'm amazed they lasted more than a month…
At the time, Twitter gave specific guidance that ecosystem applications with the term "tweet" in it would not be allowed, but twit was OK. That was specifically covered. I know for a fact because I ran a site with "twit" in the title, and cleared it with Twitter. Dozens of modestly popular sites (around data, retweets, images, etc) were using "twit" at the time.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#125So, 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…
> But would it not make sense to just rebrand? Most likely not. TwitPic's only possible exit was an acquisition by Twitter, who has since developed their own image hosting platform. This is the danger of tying your startup to another company that has the power to shut you down. The company that you are tied to needs to either acquire you, or you are at their mercy.
On the bright side, Noah earned millions in profit with TwitPic over the years (by his own admission). If he has played it smart at all, he's not going to have to ever worry about money. On to the next.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
I completely agree with you, but for the use of the word "dependent". What user is dependent on Twitter? Seriously? Can't one stop tweeting in an instant without any ill effect on her life? For developers it's a different story -- but they should know better.
Aside from people with huge audiences and Twitter-related businesses, anything you choose to use and incorporate into your life is at least somewhat of a dependency, even in the presence of substitutes. For example, I love Chick-fil-A sandwiches. When I moved, the closest Chick-fil-A is now far away. I was dependent on Chick-fil-A, and I'm less happy without it, even though I have missed no meals and probably eaten h…
You just made a great argument for why you aren't dependent on Chick-fil-A.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty big straw... Not many fully functional and profitable companies can handle a "Drop your trademark or we'll sue" legal demand from a company like Twitter.
Except they're not threatening to sue, they're threatening to drop TwitPic from their API.
That seems like a much, much bigger threat in this case.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 subs…
Arguably, Twitpic isn't dependent on Twitter per se, just a large microblogging website.
Twitpic can possibly open up a Chinese branch that runs on Weibo instead of Twitter, for example.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yet it has not succeeded. Most of users base browses the sites "Viral" gallery. Which is nothing more then a "Reddit's 24 hour greatest hits", a surprisingly low number of images make it into imgur's gallery from imgur itself. TL;DR No reddit, no front page content on imgur.
> TL;DR No reddit, no front page content on imgur. With the number of image macro posts that are on the reddit front page at any given point, I'd say their relationship is pretty symbiotic. Without imgur, I'd argue that reddit loses a significant number of their highest viewed posts, and vice-versa. Reddit would certainly have content in their smaller subreddits, but their largest ones (AdviceAnimals, funny, pics, et…
Without imgur, they'd use any of a dozen of another imagehosts, like they did before imgur got big.
Re: Twitpic is shutting down
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Twitpic homepage[1] is also 404'ing big time, perhaps it's just a devops issue more than them pulling the plug before the sunset date? It almost seems like they're playing a little hardball and showing everyone what things will be like if they disappeared from the web, which seems to be what Twitter is threatening them with since they're unable to secure the use of their name and yet millions of images are linked…
> Twitter doesn't give a fuck about developers now that they have sufficiently used them to build their platform and brand. I really hate that this is the standard model for building startups these days. Make a free service, grow your userbase using investment money and by encouraging developers to build on your platform, then once users and developers are dependent on the platform, start littering it with ads, selli…
Something that perhaps ought to happen is that in the UK, Australia, etc public broadcasters (those funded by the public) such as the BBC and ABC should be required to stop integrating Twitter into their programs.
For example, Q&A (on ABC1) uses Twitter as its primary channel for real-time audience engagement -- announced every week by the host and shown on-screen multiple times in each program. It's fairly clear this isn't benign as the producers at the ABC might think, but means that public money is being used to give an advantage to one commercial social networking company over any other.