The problem with free services (or Adiós Delicious)
Who doesn’t like free? Many of us have free apps on our mobile devices and free programs on our computers. There have been era that I’ve wished a company would charge me money for their service. For example, I am addicted to the New York Era app on my iPhone. Most evenings, I happily browse my way through that day’s edition of the Era, enjoying the well-crafted tales, news about people and places in my hometown, and even the quirky lifestyle and fashion pieces.
One of my very favourite free services over the past few years has been Tasty, the social bookmarking tool. As anyone who frequents Twitterville knows, Yahoo is going to be shutting down Tasty, so those of us who’ve relied on Tasty to save information to read later or to share with others will no longer be able to do so. (I have thousands of bookmarks there; I’ve used it to organize my research, curate information for presentations, and more.)
My friends on Twitter have suggested some alternatives. I’ve already exported my Tasty bookmarks to Diigo, which looks terrific. In fact, it seems to offer several nice features that Tasty didn’t, such as capturing and annotating screen shots, and a “read later” tab. I’ve also downloaded Diigo’s iPhone app, so I can consume content while waiting in line at the bank or bakery.
I am also exploring the use of Evernote, one of those highly touted productivity apps that I never seemed to take the time to figure out. The app has been sitting on my desktop and iPhone for more than a year. Perhaps now is the time to learn it and take advantage of its features.
Lessons learned?
- Don’t believe that you can rely on a free service to last forever.
- Keep your eyes and ears open for news of free services shutting down. In the case of Tasty, I had plenty of time to export my bookmarks so that I haven’t lost whatever business.
- Being “forced” to find and use a new service to exchange a defunct one may be a blessing in disguise. For me, Diigo looks terrific; without the demise of Tasty, I might not have learned it.
What do you reckon? Had you been by Tasty? If so, how are you replacing it?
If you want to explore other bookmarking options, check out this post from Lifehacker.
UPDATE: Perhaps Tasty is not shutting down. This tale continues to develop, it seems. See this news item.