In July we wrote about AOL’s plans to shutter a number of services based on an internal email from EVP Products and Marketing Kevin Conroy.
Next week, AOL says, they’ll begin to communicate the news to consumers around the shutdown of three of those properties – AOL Pictures, BlueString and Xdrive.
AOL Pictures will close in December, and users will have the chance to move photos to American Greetings PhotoWorks, download photos to a personal computer, or purchase an archive of photos on DVD. Photos will be available until June 2009.
XDrive and Bluestring will close on December 31. Users can download files or purchase a DVD until that time. After that, it sounds like the files will be deleted.
MyMobile, which is still in beta, will also likely be shut down by end of year.
A FAQ is reprinted below.
AOL Pictures
Q. When will the AOL Pictures service close?
A. The AOL Pictures service will continue until December 31, 2008. After this date, the service will close down and all photos stored will no longer be accessible through AOL Pictures. However, users will still be able to retrieve their images through our online photo service partner, American Greetings PhotoWorks, after registering for a free American Greetings PhotoWorks account. Users must register for an American Greetings PhotoWorks account by June 30, 2009 to transition their assets.
Q. When/how will users be notified?
A. Anyone who has stored photos on AOL Pictures will receive a series of emails from AOL beginning the week of October 27, 2008 and continuing until the site closes in December.
Q. What are the options for retrieving photos from AOL Pictures?
A. There are three options for retrieving photos from AOL Pictures. Users may choose as many of these options as they like, before December 31, 2008:
1. Register with American Greetings PhotoWorks to access photos;
2. Download photos to a personal computer;
3. Buy an archive of photos on DVD.
For more information and specific instructions, users can go to pictures.aol.com.
Q. What happens to photos if users do not take action before December 31, 2008?
From January 1, 2009 through June 30, 2009, users can register for a free PhotoWorks account to access their pictures.
Q. Will this impact any other AOL products or services?
A. After December 31, AOL Pictures will no longer be integrated with any other AOL product or service, and embed links to photos stored on AOL Pictures will become obsolete. Additionally, the AOL Pictures APIs will be removed from dev.aol.com and no longer work with 3rd party services.
Q. Why did AOL choose PhotoWorks exclusively?
A. After careful consideration and close examination, AOL Pictures chose PhotoWorks as the best option for users. AOL and American Greetings have a long standing relationship providing AOL users personal and social content for personal expression. For over 10 years, American Greetings has been AOL’s exclusive provider of ecards and greetings. With continued free, unlimited photo storing and sharing, access to PhotoWorks’ leading selection of photo merchandise including American Greetings photo cards, photo books, keepsakes, calendars and prints, PhotoWorks offers AOL Pictures users a perfect new home for their photo expressions.
Xdrive/BlueString
Q. When will Xdrive and BlueString close?
A. The Xdrive and BlueString services will close on December 31, 2008. After this date, all files and data stored on the services will be permanently deleted. To retrieve files, users should go to Xdrive and log in using their Xdrive or BlueString user ID and password.
Q. When will users be notified?
A. Email notification to users will begin on November 5, 2008.
Q. What options do users have for retrieving files?
A. BlueString uses the Xdrive online storage service to store photos, videos and music uploaded through BlueString, so both BlueString and Xdrive users need to visit the Xdrive site to retrieve their files, and log in using an Xdrive or BlueString user ID and password.
Once there, users have several options and tools for retrieving files.
· Create a single .zip file, containing all of the files in the Xdrive account, which can then be downloaded to a computer;
· Purchase an archive of files on DVD;
· Download files through the standard Xdrive Web and Desktop Clients.
Step-by-step instructions on how to take any of the above actions will be provided on Xdrive.com and AOL will also list a number of online storage services that provide similar functionality.
Q. What happens if users don’t do anything to retrieve files by December 31, 2008?
A. After December 31, 2008, users will no longer be able to access their Xdrive accounts. All files and data will be permanently deleted and users will no longer be able to retrieve files.
Q. Will users who pay for storage through Xdrive receive a refund?
A. All billing for the Xdrive service will cease as of November 5, 2008 when email notifications are sent out to users. Users who subscribe to the Xdrive annual plan will receive a pro-rated refund based on the annual plan renewal date, and credited to the payment method on file within six to eight weeks.
I can’t believe they actually let this amount of time pass between making the decision and notifying their users. It’s kind of ridiculous. And the whole “photoworks” thing.. Seriously? Only one option? Toss Flickr, Smugmug and Zenfolio in there. Give people a real choice.
“users can purchase a DVD” – they should package some Time Warner movie trailers in that DVD to make some extra cash… sure I don’t get to use my favorite online storage service anymore, but look honey its Ghost Rider 2
This is very odd, the Annual AOL Layoffs (AAL) usually happen right before Christmas. Why so early AOL? Maybe they don’t have seasoned management.
All the teams from these products have already been fired couple of week back. It is onlt being maintained now.
So bluestring is closing but you can still sign up right now if you visit the site? There is not even a mention that the service will be ending soon???
What are they doing with photos.aim.com?
Don’t tell me AOL is now strapped for cash…
Tss. the worst of it is that Xdrive was a great service. but along came the spider and SkyDrive launched.
Skydrive single handedly has killed like 5 storage services so far. i remember people saying that there was not a way that SkyDrive would beat Xdrive. i think they beat it in 3 months or so from launch.
I can see lots more of storage service going down with the current Economic Doom & Gloom. it is possible that in the end there will only be
10 services at most. at one point in 2007 there were like 100 of them.
Don’t think Skydrive had much if anything to do with Xdrive’s demise… Go ahead and search for “online storage” on Live’s own search engine and see what pops up…
Chalk this one up to mismanagement by AOL…
How sad. Bluestring was supposed to be a game changing service, launched too late and too crappy.
Of course, when you log in to AOL.co.uk, they still have Pictures listed, the front page of Pictures has no FAQ or warnings, and the Help pages look like they were abandoned a long time ago. Bearing in mind that in 2006, the UK had a higher proportional uptake of the Pictures product than the US or any of the other services.
Will the American Greetings deal extend to international users I wonder? If it does, is there anyone left in Europe who will bother to tell the members?
I didn’t even know AOL still existed. Who still uses it? I weaned my friends and family off AOL 10+ years ago.
I think other competitor will take advantage of this.
I didn’t know people were still using those services.
Bye bye!
Bluestring was short lived. Seems like just yesterday it was launching at TechCrunch20/40.
Hi, full disclosure here, I work for http://www.nomadesk.com
Clearly AOL didn’t go through the effort of providing more elegant migration scenarios to other providers. I’m amazed that they were unable to sell XDrive to a third party. For sure AOL most have been contacted by any of the existing ones.
Anyway, for those who wish to migrate from Xdrive to NomaDesk, here is the simple 2-step approach:
1) Create a NomaDesk Account at http://www.nomadesk.com – just stating the obvious
2) download your XDrive files on the NomaDesk virtual Fileserver on your PC
… you’re done!
http://www.yout...h?v=2hzlcWXY7s4
This is a nice promotion of your services!! I have seen a lot of ads about Nomadesk lately, especially on Techcrunch. However, that being said, why isnt your company sponsoring http://crenk.com?
Rumor has it AOL tried to line up more elegant (or at least more) migration alternatives but terms were too onerous. It’s not amazing that they were unable to sell xdrive, because xdrive is/was crap.
Witness the fact that you can’t actually download your photos to your computer (a service provided via xdrive); it simply wasn’t working yesterday for any reasonably large number of pictures; I could get only a couple hundred of my 7000+ pictures at a time; and can’t get any at the moment.
Oh, and the “faq” link takes you to an error page that only says “The page you requested could not be found.” Come to think of it; that “answer” pretty well sums things up.
SO BASICALLLY WE WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO INSERT PICTURES INTO OUT MAIL FROM AOL? AS OD DEC 31ST?
AND EVERY FILE OF PERSONAL PHOTOS WE HAVE WILL JUST GO POOF???
IS AOL AWARE OF HOW MANY PEOPLE THEY WILL LOOSE IF THEY DO THIS?
HOW CAN THEY TAKE OUR MAIL FROM US? TO SEND FAMILY PICTURES
OF OURSELFS? OR RECIEVE PICTURES ?? WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE HASSLE OF THIS SIGN UP? NOW THEY ARE OFFFERING DIAL UP FOR 9.99?
WHEN DIAL UP WAS FREE?? DOES AOL EVEN HAVE A CLUE THE INPACT THIS WILL HAVE ON DSL SEVICES TO? HECK EVERYONE WILL JUST GO WITH ANOTHER SERVER WHO ALLOWS TO SEND EMBEDDDED IMAGES INTO OUR MAIL……..
OR THOSE OF US WHO RUN TAG LISTS ……….
I KNOW IF AOL TAKES MY MAIL AWAY FROM ME & NOT ALLOWING ME TO INSERT PICTURES TO SEND TO FAMILY.
I WILL GO WITH A SERVER THAT DOES!!!
AOL SEEMS TO BE CUTTING THIER OWWN THROAT!!
PLEASE SOMEONE EMAIL ME AND TELL ME THIS ISNT TRUE??????????
BUT ONLY HAS TO DO WITYH ORDERING ONLINE PHOTOS…………….
Writing in caps doesnt prevent us noticing that you must be the only bellend in the world using AOL email… Everyone switched back in 1805, which is probably when you were born.
Another privacy issue for AOL! When you migrate your AOL pictures to Photoworks and if had previously “shared” photos – that persons “shared” photos migrate to your personal folder like they were your own. Not a biggie, but certainly dont think someone who shared pictures previously would want that to happen.
X-Drive almost always worked great for my. I thought it was a good service. I find it rather irritating that working products like this are initially purchased (for 30 Million no less) only to be trashed. What a waste. All that work gone. Another case of “Bonehead Management” not caring about their customers, users and corporate equity. So what is AOL really good for? Do they have a purpose anymore? (In the last 10 years?) Except for X-drive, I think not. “Tits on a bull… Useless!” And in the end, I get to pay more for cable & high speed internet. Thanks Time Warner. I’m not surprised.
I just want an address so i can mail AOL back the thousands of crap trial CDs they infesyed my house with.
FilesAnywhere was born the same year as XDRIVE and we are really hitting our stride now. We have more features than ANY other storage service.
We are technical guys who built a useful product for professional users. But now FilesAnywhere will do everything – FileShare links, media streaming, offsite backup, online document editing, file dropboxes, collaboration, picture editing, slideshows, WebDAV drive mapping, FTP, SFTP, Windows/Mac Folder Sync – you name it!
Please signup yourself and take a look. You will see that the FA underdog of 1999 has spread its wings! We are FAST and RELIABLE.
http://www.filesanywhere.com
FYI: we have free accounts and we are offering assistance to all Xdrive users!!
Tim Rice
FilesAnywhere.com
This is exactly why we created iForem
More and more people are looking at the Internet to provide them with answers. Unfortunately, what they find are solutions that don’t provide the assurance that their most important and critical content is protected from unauthorized access or worse. You need a flexible choice to secure and protect content which is more critical than most and a solution that is cost effective.
Let me update everyone…
On November 12 2008 Xdrive LLC part of AOL LLC sent out to Xdrive account holders an AOL Official Mail notifying them that the Xdrive service will be shutting down on January 12 2009. On December 12 2008 Xdrive LLC part of AOL LLC sent a second notice to Xdrive account holders.
Check your SPAM box if you don’t see it in your Inbox especially if you have a non AOL email account.
Today is December 21st 2008 so that leaves Xdrive account holders 21 days to get their assets off of the Xdrive service. I would not recommend waiting until the last day. Get it done today…!
I recommend choosing ElephantDrive and to make transferring those digital assets over as easy as possible just click the link http://www.elep...ct.aspx?ici=267 …this is the Xdrive to ElephantDrive migration page.
ElephantDrive is the only solution provider working in cooperation with Xdrive using their Open Xdrive API. While competitors of ElephantDrive may offer discounts on their subscription plans you’ll have to do all the work of transferring your digital assets. ElephantDrive is committed to helping every Xdrive account holder make transitioning their digital assets seamless and transparent by using the Xdrive to ElephantDrive migration page.
ElephantDrive offers packages that are designed to protect the digital assets of individuals, SMBs, and large organizations.
Xdrive consumers with questions about transferring their digital assets over to ElephantDrive can check our Common Questions page.
https://www.ele...tion.aspx#Learn
Matt K. Olson
Consultant @ ElephantDrive
I just did the American Greetings Photoworks transfer, and pasted pictures NO PROBLEM within an email.
Only thing is we can only paste really small (the thumbnail size) or original size (click options, view larger, then right click the larger picture and copy, then paste within body of email.
The old way alowed us to have 3 different sizes but I think I can hang with this.
Peace!
REBUTTAL!!!
I take that last post back.
Sure, you can paste from American Greetings Photoworks but after sending the picture, it does not come out on the other end. I sent the email to myself and the picture was not there, just an empty space.
Yes, still have my AOL address but have now opened my Charter email account and trying to get up the gumption to switch. Charging $10 and then decreasing services such as photo storage and now much, much, slower speed just doesn’t make sense to my economically challenged brain. Seems like they are shooting themselves in the foot. I obediently switched to American Greetings and find the program very cumbersome and difficult to navigate through. When I did send photos out, they were never received on the other end. I contacted American Greetings and the rude person on the phone suggested that if I wasn’t happy with them, there were other online photo services I could use.
The Xdrive service will be shutting down on January 12 2009. What will the last three days of Xdrive cost you? Get your music, your pictures, your documents. I would not recommend waiting until the last day. Get it done today…!
I recommend choosing ElephantDrive and to make transferring those digital assets over as easy as possible just click the link http://www.elep...ct.aspx?ici=267 …this is the Xdrive to ElephantDrive migration page.
ElephantDrive is the only solution provider working in cooperation with Xdrive using their Open Xdrive API. While competitors of ElephantDrive may offer discounts on their subscription plans you’ll have to do all the work of transferring your digital assets. ElephantDrive is committed to helping every Xdrive account holder make transitioning their digital assets seamless and transparent by using the Xdrive to ElephantDrive migration page.
ElephantDrive offers packages that are designed to protect the digital assets of individuals, SMBs, and large organizations.
Xdrive consumers with questions about transferring their digital assets over to ElephantDrive can check our Common Questions page.
https://www.ele...tion.aspx#Learn
Matt K. Olson aka XDMOlson
Consultant @ ElephantDrive