Instapaper is still not available to users in EU. It's been to months. I started to use Pocket because of this and now I don't think I'm coming back.
Instapaper is going independent
71–80 of 195 posts
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#72Why would anybody use instapaper over pocket?
I prefer the Instapaper interface.
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is this better for Pinterest and/or Instapaper? In the 2016 blog post announcing the acquisition: http://blog.instapaper.com/post/149374303661 > All of these features and developments revolved around the core mission of Instapaper, which is allowing our users to discover, save, and experience interesting web content. In that respect, there is a lot of overlap between Pinterest and Instapaper. Joining Pinterest pr…
Look at Brian's comment history: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=bthdonohue . He's not active on HN, but he jumps in for quick damage control and "clarification" when people have vaguely privacy-related or operational questions about Instapaper. When followup questions are posed, particularly more difficult ones, he never responds. So I find it very unlikely you're going to get an answer here, because this ac…
I read HN regularly, but I'm pretty much a lurker on all social channels. When there's a conversation relevant to me or the products I work on, I like to jump in to represent the relevant company or products.
With respect to follow ups, I usually respond and move on to other things. I do my best to be open and transparent in online communities like these.
Moving onto your privacy concerns there are two things I'd like to say...
* Instapaper has always done hard deletes of user data when you delete articles or your account, it's been done that way since the Marco days.
* We have never monetized using user data, or developed any type of special targeted advertising for Instapaper.
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#74From what I’ve seen this is usually what happens when the parent company wants to close the service down. First they spin off the service into its own company then the company shuts down because of a lack of income. Is that what’s happening here? What’s the name of this process?
Hi Brad, Brian from Instapaper here. Just want to reassure you that's not the case here, we intend to operate Instapaper for the foreseeable future. We made this decision because we believe it’s best for both Pinterest and Instapaper.
Are you going to comment on the ongoing GDPR saga?
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#75Instapaper is still not available to users in EU. It's been to months. I started to use Pocket because of this and now I don't think I'm coming back.
Hey zulrah, we are working on GDPR and plan to have the service available in the EU as soon as possible. Hope to have you back on Instapaper when we become available in the EU again. Really sorry for the inconvenience.
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#76I'm just curious b/c I use Instapaper but am surprised that it's risen through the ranks here.
Are people bumping in this b/c of interest in Pintrest, or b/c they find Instapaper an amazingly useful app?
If the latter, what else are you all using it for other than saving long articles on plane flights w/o wifi?
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#77Instapaper is still not available to users in EU. It's been to months. I started to use Pocket because of this and now I don't think I'm coming back.
Same here. I could understand some downtime if GPDR was suddenly sprung on them but everyone had time to prepare. I could also understand them not caring about me as a single user (not deluded here), but since I pay for the service I'm sadly all fresh out of understanding. Instapaper has been great but Pocket doesn't seem to be lacking much as far as what I need.
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#78Was GDPR so terrifying that they had to sell it off?
Deleted, was overly negative.
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#79Instapaper is still not available to users in EU. It's been to months. I started to use Pocket because of this and now I don't think I'm coming back.
I don't mean to sound trite or dismissive, but the blame should be directed at EU legislators.
If I create another software product I will explicitly and permanently make it unavailable to EU residents.
Re: Instapaper is going independent
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Look at Brian's comment history: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=bthdonohue . He's not active on HN, but he jumps in for quick damage control and "clarification" when people have vaguely privacy-related or operational questions about Instapaper. When followup questions are posed, particularly more difficult ones, he never responds. So I find it very unlikely you're going to get an answer here, because this ac…
Great analysis, thanks. Your points make me wonder... If you're running a small successful and independent sass, that respects its users, and you want to move on. What do you do, if your only options are selling to a large company that won't respect your users, or shutting down? Is it plausible to find a buyer that will honestly maintain a user-respecting ethos? If not, then it seems that there are no good choices fo…
I know of one company which explicitly has this approach: http://tiny.website/
> We won't try to flip your business in 3-5 years. We won't mess with your team and culture. We won't lock you into golden handcuffs or push complex deal terms. We won't ruin your life with months of unnecessary due diligence. We won't renegotiate and grind you on terms.
> …
> We started Tiny to create the buyer we wish we could have sold to.
Background: https://medium.com/@awilkinson/the-berkshire-hathaway-of-the...
To my knowledge, no one else makes similar commitments to both keep good things as-is and also to buy and hold indefinitely. At least from the outside, Tiny's model is unique.