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OhLife is shutting down

ohlife.com

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Re: OhLife is shutting down

#81

Post by hnha »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #79
UVB-76 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple of months at least. It could take more than a couple of weeks for many users to realize the service is shutting down (skip past the email in their inbox, etc.) Even if a user receives notification with the full two weeks notice, they could be on vacation and unable to download the files. They could figure "Oh, I'll make a note to download my stuff when I get home from work" then forget all about it.

What if their development team found other jobs, giving the standard 2 weeks notice. Who will maintain the servers and code for those few months? Sure, the code allowing for the export of data might seem trivial but you still need someone to maintain the system. It's almost guaranteed to need some kind of attention over a couple of months in use. Especially if the export feature was written quickly after the announce…

It's not your/my/our job to wonder what resources might be needed to keep it running. If you build a service like this, you should have a user-friendly exit plan.

At the very least they could be open and honest about what is going on instead of pulling a "thanks for being part of this incredible journey, we've had our fun so now we will let you stand in the rain".

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#82

Post by rmvinfint »

buro9 wrote: post #74
billzhuang wrote: post #2

i start use ohlife from 08/26/2010, has 658 entries totally. every night i will wait for your email and input what i think or meet today, and i can know what i thought one year ago, and i have the chance to remember the good/sad life i experienced before. it's always in my daily routing and the habit, i also introduced this service to my family and friends, everyone like it very much. thanks guys, hope i can do sth t…

I do that with Google Calendar. I have multiple calendars (about 20), some log things to do with work, one logs all SMS messages and phone calls sent/received, another logs fitness/health. At any time I can look at any day, and there is enough information in the calendar to tell me everything that happened that day and for me to recall the day clearly. Most of this is recorded implicitly (IFTTT handles whatever doesn…

This sounds incredible! could you detail the process?? I would love to set up a similar system. @raamvi

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#83

Post by manarh »

FWIW: I have tried to contact ohlife to ask about keeping the service up (on new servers / new domain etc. is all fine). I believe I have the time and wherewithall to do that before Oct 4th, especially if the costs can be shared.

(also: none of us - I assume - knows the back-story. I wouldn't judge before you do and have time to digest it)

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#84

Post by manarh »

FWIW: I have tried to contact ohlife to ask about keeping the service up (on new servers / new domain etc. is all fine). I believe I have the time and wherewithall to do that before Oct 4th, especially if the costs can be shared.

(also: none of us - I assume - knows the back-story. I wouldn't judge before you do and have time to digest it)

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#85

Post by frozenport »

simplify wrote: post #42

This is why I think a service like Sandstorm[1] will eventually be huge for web app development. Like OhLife, there are tons of apps that are useful enough for many people to use, but can't easily be monetized due to hosting costs. If OhLife were available on Sandstorm, someone like me could click-install OhLife on my own personal server, much like the app store for iOS. In addition, I the user also benefit by keepin…

Or maybe it can't be monetized due to development costs?

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#86

Post by buro9 »

rmvinfint wrote: post #82
buro9 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do that with Google Calendar. I have multiple calendars (about 20), some log things to do with work, one logs all SMS messages and phone calls sent/received, another logs fitness/health. At any time I can look at any day, and there is enough information in the calendar to tell me everything that happened that day and for me to recall the day clearly. Most of this is recorded implicitly (IFTTT handles whatever doesn…

This sounds incredible! could you detail the process?? I would love to set up a similar system. @raamvi

It's less a process and more an accumulation.

For Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zegoggles.... backs up all calls and SMS to Google Calendar and Gmail respectively. IFTTT can copy the SMS messages from Gmail to Google Calendar. I label the GMails, and copy them to a distinct calendar.

I run an IFTTT to detect calendar attachments on email and copy those to a distinct calendar.

I run a personal calendar for personal appointments, and then other calendars for friends appointments. Another calendar tracks gigs, films, exhibitions and theatre visits.

I run a different work calendar for every employer/venture I've had.

I run different calendars for process based work, i.e. I have a calendar that tracks visa applications and progress, and I have another calendar that tracks key dates regarding all financial obligations (start of agreements, agreement expiry, cliffs for option vesting, etc).

It's just a slow accumulation of information into buckets that I consider to have time-based views of them.

The Google Calendar agenda/search results is usually how I find things, but sometimes I do the whole "browse to this month and see what I was doing then".

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#87

Post by heyyeah »

dabent wrote: post #25

I have 1161 entries dating back to my first on August 18, 2010. I really love the service, but understand if they have to shut it down. Thanks to the founders for keeping such an easy-to-use service around for so long. I'm off to find an alternative. My list of features isn't long. A daily email with a reminder and a previous post from the last year, month or week. It's that simplicity that kept me using the service.

Yes, thanks to the creators of ohlife. I used it a lot especially on holidays.

Now looking for alternatives too. So far Penzu is looking like the winner. It seems to have everything ohlife had plus apps.

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#88

Post by MichaelApproved »

hnha wrote: post #81
MichaelApproved wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if their development team found other jobs, giving the standard 2 weeks notice. Who will maintain the servers and code for those few months? Sure, the code allowing for the export of data might seem trivial but you still need someone to maintain the system. It's almost guaranteed to need some kind of attention over a couple of months in use. Especially if the export feature was written quickly after the announce…

It's not your/my/our job to wonder what resources might be needed to keep it running. If you build a service like this, you should have a user-friendly exit plan. At the very least they could be open and honest about what is going on instead of pulling a "thanks for being part of this incredible journey, we've had our fun so now we will let you stand in the rain".

"thanks for being part of this incredible journey, we've had our fun so now we will let you stand in the rain"

There's nothing fun about shutting down a company and putting people out of work. Also, standing in the rain is being dramatic.

Yes, it's expected that a service provide you wait an export feature when they shut down but you also need to consider the ramifications of a company shutting down: people jump ship. And rightfully so. They have families that they need to take care of and looking for another job is #1.

If you're this concerned about being able to export your data, don't start using a company unless they already have data export feature available and publish a detailed user-friendly exit plan in advance.

Presumably, this company sent out emails to everyone notifying them of the closure and export feature. Yes, 2 weeks is a little short but I understand the complicated logistics of extending the export timeline.

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#89

Post by dhodges »

lancer wrote: post #40

For everyone who enjoys journaling via email, you may find DailyDiary a suitable alternative. A comparable question might be: https://www.dailydiary.com/questions/342540/how-did-your-day... Disclosure: I'm the founder. If there’s interest, I’m happy to add an import for OhLife exports.

I too would use your service if you could import my OhLife back entries.

Re: OhLife is shutting down

#90

Post by kalleboo »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #79
UVB-76 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple of months at least. It could take more than a couple of weeks for many users to realize the service is shutting down (skip past the email in their inbox, etc.) Even if a user receives notification with the full two weeks notice, they could be on vacation and unable to download the files. They could figure "Oh, I'll make a note to download my stuff when I get home from work" then forget all about it.

What if their development team found other jobs, giving the standard 2 weeks notice. Who will maintain the servers and code for those few months? Sure, the code allowing for the export of data might seem trivial but you still need someone to maintain the system. It's almost guaranteed to need some kind of attention over a couple of months in use. Especially if the export feature was written quickly after the announce…

Dump each user's data into a ZIP file with HTML content+all the images. Now you've reduced a "keep creaky web app running" problem to "host some static files with authentication" problem. Might even be able to stick it onto S3 or something and have next-to-no maintenance. Nobody needs to be fulltime to support that, just have an hourly sysadmin on retainer to fix issues that come up and keep on top of security patches, shouldn't be more than a couple hours a month tops.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

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