Comments on: Flock Ditches Shadows Bookmarking Service http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/ Startup and Technology News Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:27:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Demand Media Buys Pluck for $50 million to $60 million http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-2015913 Demand Media Buys Pluck for $50 million to $60 million Tue, 04 Mar 2008 20:03:55 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-2015913 [...] product. They also released a Delicious-like social bookmarking site called Shadows that was also discontinued. Their most recent strategy is a suite of products that brings social networking features and blog [...] [...] product. They also released a Delicious-like social bookmarking site called Shadows that was also discontinued. Their most recent strategy is a suite of products that brings social networking features and blog [...]

]]> By: How NOT to blog a de-feature announcement « MikeOnBlog http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-451729 How NOT to blog a de-feature announcement « MikeOnBlog Tue, 28 Nov 2006 01:41:57 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-451729 [...] 3. I even got mentioned in TechCrunch. [...] [...] 3. I even got mentioned in TechCrunch. [...]

]]> By: David Mackey http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-444557 David Mackey Sun, 26 Nov 2006 05:24:04 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-444557 Why didn't the company sell off these properties instead of simply abandoning them? Or perhaps open source them and receive the positive press? Why didn’t the company sell off these properties instead of simply abandoning them? Or perhaps open source them and receive the positive press?

]]> By: James http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-433665 James Thu, 23 Nov 2006 15:26:42 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-433665 Thanks for the timely post on bookmarking services. I am trying to find an alternative to del.icio.us. I often bookmark a website and later go back to decide what bundle to place it in. I've got LOTS of bookmarks to be categorized. Unfortunately, as Adam pointed out, the user interface is HORRENDOUS. It is maddeningly slow and you can't changeor delete items in bulk. And if I export my bookmarks, it appears that I lose all my bundles. Yikes! Not long ago I wrote yahoo and email commenting on the slowness and the need for a way to bulk edit items. Here's the response that I got back: Thank you for writing to del.icio.us Customer Care. Thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding Yahoo! del.icio.us. It is through customer feedback that we are able to continue to make improvements. There is always something on the drawing board, and many of these have come directly from users like you. In the meantime, a possible fix is to disable some of the applications that are currently running in your system. ....disable applications??? I already close other apps down when I'm trying to edit in del.icio.us. Maybe I should disable windows too! Jeezus. Thanks for the timely post on bookmarking services. I am trying to find an alternative to del.icio.us.

I often bookmark a website and later go back to decide what bundle to place it in. I’ve got LOTS of bookmarks to be categorized.

Unfortunately, as Adam pointed out, the user interface is HORRENDOUS. It is maddeningly slow and you can’t changeor delete items in bulk. And if I export my bookmarks, it appears that I lose all my bundles. Yikes!

Not long ago I wrote yahoo and email commenting on the slowness and the need for a way to bulk edit items. Here’s the response that I got back:

Thank you for writing to del.icio.us Customer Care.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding Yahoo!
del.icio.us.

It is through customer feedback that we are able to continue to make improvements. There is always something on the drawing board, and many of these have come directly from users like you.

In the meantime, a possible fix is to disable some of the applications
that are currently running in your system.

….disable applications??? I already close other apps down when I’m trying to edit in del.icio.us. Maybe I should disable windows too!

Jeezus.

]]> By: Otis Gospodnetic http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-431043 Otis Gospodnetic Thu, 23 Nov 2006 01:07:11 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-431043 Adam: For some people hierarchical bookmarks locked up in their browser are best. I agree about usability. Try Simpy for Bulk Edit and Bulk Delete. You can use a read-only demo account (username/password: demo/demo) to sniff around. John: Unfortunately, a LOT of spammers and self-promoters are also big fans of OnlyWire. I see them trying to get into Simpy via OnlyWire all the time. I spoke to OnlyWire guy about the spam issue, but it looks like he doesn't have any spam filters in place yet. Adam:
For some people hierarchical bookmarks locked up in their browser are best. I agree about usability. Try Simpy for Bulk Edit and Bulk Delete. You can use a read-only demo account (username/password: demo/demo) to sniff around.

John:
Unfortunately, a LOT of spammers and self-promoters are also big fans of OnlyWire. I see them trying to get into Simpy via OnlyWire all the time. I spoke to OnlyWire guy about the spam issue, but it looks like he doesn’t have any spam filters in place yet.

]]> By: Adam Saunders http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-430062 Adam Saunders Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:06:51 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-430062 I've never seen a decent social bookmarking application. Social bookmarking tools have succeeded in making my bookmarks more disorganized. The problem is that Social bookmark companies are looking to suck useful information out of users and get bought out by someone interested in that data. They seem to have little regard for the user. Just look at Delicious. For all the hype it is a pretty horrible application from a usability standpoint. Have you ever tried to delete multiple bookmarks all at once? You can't do it. I’ve never seen a decent social bookmarking application. Social bookmarking tools have succeeded in making my bookmarks more disorganized. The problem is that Social bookmark companies are looking to suck useful information out of users and get bought out by someone interested in that data. They seem to have little regard for the user. Just look at Delicious. For all the hype it is a pretty horrible application from a usability standpoint. Have you ever tried to delete multiple bookmarks all at once? You can’t do it.

]]> By: John http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-429504 John Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:14:13 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-429504 Flock should add www.onlywire.com as the bookmarking service - they have an api too. Ive been using it now for several months and it saves me lots of time. Onlywire basically allows you to use a single bookmarklet to save the page to like 15 or more social bookmarking networks. I only participate in 3 but its your choice. Cool service. Flock should add http://www.onlywire.com as the bookmarking service - they have an api too. Ive been using it now for several months and it saves me lots of time. Onlywire basically allows you to use a single bookmarklet to save the page to like 15 or more social bookmarking networks. I only participate in 3 but its your choice. Cool service.

]]> By: Ed Fonseca http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-429473 Ed Fonseca Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:06:17 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-429473 I agree, GO BLINKLIST! I agree, GO BLINKLIST!

]]> By: webonics http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-429097 webonics Wed, 22 Nov 2006 15:10:26 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-429097 I am sad to Shadows go away as it was a great service for me. I originally used Del.icio.us but there was a lack of functionality (like web snapshots) and a horrible user interface. As a vocal Flock community member, my concern was the ostercization of Shadows users and the removal of choice. Shadows does not currently offer exporting of favorites and tags. For someone with over 400 links and 1500+ tags, it would be difficult to reinput all the data into another service manually. Fortunately, Flock stepped forward and contacted Shadows to develop a method for transitioning another service. The other concern was for offering choice. While del.icio.us is very effective many users, it is not the best fit for me. Since the awesome integration of favorites is my most used feature in the Flock browser, I was struggling with switching back to del.icio.us or abandoning Flock (which I don't want to do). I think a lot of the negative response to the issue stemmed from the original post. While well-intentioned, it lacked any explanation or background information on the matter. It basically stated that Flock would stop supporting the service. Have a good day. After Geoffrey's post, I believe Flock/Shadows users feel much more comfortable situation with new perspective. I, too, am hoping that BlinkList will be a supported service in Flock. Thanks TechCrunch for posting about this subject! Crunch on... I am sad to Shadows go away as it was a great service for me. I originally used Del.icio.us but there was a lack of functionality (like web snapshots) and a horrible user interface.

As a vocal Flock community member, my concern was the ostercization of Shadows users and the removal of choice. Shadows does not currently offer exporting of favorites and tags. For someone with over 400 links and 1500+ tags, it would be difficult to reinput all the data into another service manually. Fortunately, Flock stepped forward and contacted Shadows to develop a method for transitioning another service. The other concern was for offering choice. While del.icio.us is very effective many users, it is not the best fit for me. Since the awesome integration of favorites is my most used feature in the Flock browser, I was struggling with switching back to del.icio.us or abandoning Flock (which I don’t want to do).

I think a lot of the negative response to the issue stemmed from the original post. While well-intentioned, it lacked any explanation or background information on the matter. It basically stated that Flock would stop supporting the service. Have a good day. After Geoffrey’s post, I believe Flock/Shadows users feel much more comfortable situation with new perspective.

I, too, am hoping that BlinkList will be a supported service in Flock.

Thanks TechCrunch for posting about this subject! Crunch on…

]]> By: Razvan Antonescu http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428810 Razvan Antonescu Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:41:01 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428810 Well in fact they prepare alternatives to shadows: " - Flock is about choice and we are already looking into adding more bookmarking services such as Wink and ma.gnolia, with the ultimate goal of letting users integrate whatever services they want." (Flock Blog) Well in fact they prepare alternatives to shadows:

” - Flock is about choice and we are already looking into adding more bookmarking services such as Wink and ma.gnolia, with the ultimate goal of letting users integrate whatever services they want.” (Flock Blog)

]]> By: Texas Startup Blog: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Texas » Blog Archive » Austin Ventures’ backed Shadows in Dead Pool http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428791 Texas Startup Blog: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Texas » Blog Archive » Austin Ventures’ backed Shadows in Dead Pool Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:38:35 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428791 [...] This morning Mike announced that he was moving Shadows, the bookmarking service, into the TechCrunch DeadPool.  Ouch.  Shadows is a product of Pluck based in Austin and funded by Austin Ventures.  Last year we kept running into the Pluck CEO, David Panos, and by all accounts the company is now focusing on its Blogburst platform. (Mike’s picture from WSJ) In November of last year I spoke at the University of Texas’ MBA program about the Web 2.0 space.  As a follow-up I wrote a post titled “Consumating v. Pluck” comparing a small boot-strapped company (Consumating) to a well-funded venture backed company (Pluck).  My point?  Boot-strapped companies have a much better chance of success in the new Web 2.0 environment due to their agility ~ i.e. that didn’t work, how about this.  Venture backed companies have a much harder time making course corrections.  Also, the dollars required for a very successful exit are much different for both types.  Consumating was able to sell to C|Net for a number that made it’s founder, Ben Brown, very happy (but far less than the capital Austin Ventures put to work in Pluck).  I estimated that Pluck would need to sell for $50-100MM to create an acceptable return for Austin Ventures. [...] [...] This morning Mike announced that he was moving Shadows, the bookmarking service, into the TechCrunch DeadPool.  Ouch.  Shadows is a product of Pluck based in Austin and funded by Austin Ventures.  Last year we kept running into the Pluck CEO, David Panos, and by all accounts the company is now focusing on its Blogburst platform. (Mike’s picture from WSJ) In November of last year I spoke at the University of Texas’ MBA program about the Web 2.0 space.  As a follow-up I wrote a post titled “Consumating v. Pluck” comparing a small boot-strapped company (Consumating) to a well-funded venture backed company (Pluck).  My point?  Boot-strapped companies have a much better chance of success in the new Web 2.0 environment due to their agility ~ i.e. that didn’t work, how about this.  Venture backed companies have a much harder time making course corrections.  Also, the dollars required for a very successful exit are much different for both types.  Consumating was able to sell to C|Net for a number that made it’s founder, Ben Brown, very happy (but far less than the capital Austin Ventures put to work in Pluck).  I estimated that Pluck would need to sell for $50-100MM to create an acceptable return for Austin Ventures. [...]

]]> By: Sebastian http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428755 Sebastian Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:29:22 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428755 It's Flock 1.0, not Flock 2.0, what they are releasing :) It’s Flock 1.0, not Flock 2.0, what they are releasing :)

]]> By: Bob-i-Licious http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428565 Bob-i-Licious Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:53:53 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428565 Being highly not subjective, I say GO BLINKLIST. Michael already covered them. And in a good way ! Being highly not subjective, I say GO BLINKLIST. Michael already covered them. And in a good way !

]]> By: sri http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428536 sri Wed, 22 Nov 2006 12:42:41 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-428536 good riddance. shadows screwed 100 of my bookmarks because they dont export your favorites like everyone else good riddance. shadows screwed 100 of my bookmarks because they dont export your favorites like everyone else

]]> By: Otis Gospodnetic http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427759 Otis Gospodnetic Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:28:45 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427759 Michael: Yes, they go in as private when uploaded. This is the easiest way to hide spam, which is both good and bad here. Michael:
Yes, they go in as private when uploaded. This is the easiest way to hide spam, which is both good and bad here.

]]> By: Otis Gospodnetic http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427751 Otis Gospodnetic Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:26:48 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427751 Shadows has been dying for a while now. I tried getting in touch with their (Pluck) CEO, Dave Panos, and offer their users a new home at <a href="http://www.simpy.com/" rel="nofollow">Simpy</a>, but got no response. If Dave is reading, please <a href="http://www.simpy.com/contact" rel="nofollow">contact me</a>. Shadows has been dying for a while now. I tried getting in touch with their (Pluck) CEO, Dave Panos, and offer their users a new home at Simpy, but got no response. If Dave is reading, please contact me.

]]> By: IndianPad http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427713 IndianPad Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:16:20 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427713 <strong>Flock.com Ditches Shadows Bookmarking Service...</strong> Flock.com Ditches Shadows Bookmarking Service posted at IndianPad.com... Flock.com Ditches Shadows Bookmarking Service…

Flock.com Ditches Shadows Bookmarking Service posted at IndianPad.com…

]]> By: Smaran http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427669 Smaran Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:05:28 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427669 @ Michael: Yes, the ones you export and upload from your browser. @ Michael: Yes, the ones you export and upload from your browser.

]]> By: Smaran http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427664 Smaran Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:04:32 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427664 In fact, I've had bad experiences with all of the company's products. The people at Blogburst were rude, and Pluck lacked basic functionality. Accessing my feeds proved difficult without the Firefox extension. In fact, I’ve had bad experiences with all of the company’s products. The people at Blogburst were rude, and Pluck lacked basic functionality. Accessing my feeds proved difficult without the Firefox extension.

]]> By: Michael Arrington http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427658 Michael Arrington Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:03:45 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427658 del.icio.us makes your bookmarks private by default? del.icio.us makes your bookmarks private by default?

]]> By: Smaran http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427650 Smaran Wed, 22 Nov 2006 09:01:24 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/11/22/flock-ditches-shadows-bookmarking-service/#comment-427650 Thank goodness! It was the worst I've used. When I uploaded my bookmarks to Shadows, it made them all PUBLIC by default! On top of that, they all appeared on the Shadows homepage. Outrageous. I spent the next 3 hours deleting all of them. I couldn't even find an option to delete my account. del.icio.us makes your uploaded bookmarks private by default. I'm still fuming about the Shadows incident. This is an excellent move for Flock. Kudos to Will and the gang. Thank goodness! It was the worst I’ve used. When I uploaded my bookmarks to Shadows, it made them all PUBLIC by default! On top of that, they all appeared on the Shadows homepage. Outrageous. I spent the next 3 hours deleting all of them. I couldn’t even find an option to delete my account. del.icio.us makes your uploaded bookmarks private by default. I’m still fuming about the Shadows incident.

This is an excellent move for Flock. Kudos to Will and the gang.

]]>