Xmarks might not be quite dead yet but it probably will and should be.
They seem really attached to the idea that the data (or as they ponderously call it, 'the corpus') they have is very valuable. $9 million (with an impressive $2 mil/year burn rate) later they haven't figured out a way to extract any of that elusive value.
Browser bookmark sync is becoming a built-in feature in many popular browsers. Cross-browser support is an edge case that overlaps with the functionality of a number of web-based bookmarking services which generally offer a richer and more useful feature set than in-browser bookmarking.
In the period of about a week they've persuaded fewer than 30k of their users to maybe pay them $10/yr. This is probably not all that surprising given the above and the fact they've already announced that should they run into difficulties, they'll simply give up. Short of Stockholm Syndrome, it's hard to imagine why anyone would choose to rely on their service going forward, even if someone is foolish enough to buy them out.
Problem is I stopped using Delicious years ago. I need my bookmarks in my browser. If I have to go to a website to find something, that's going to be Google or DDG.
A great solution would be for Delicious/Yahoo to buy Xmarks and integrate the two technologies - your bookmarks are stored on Delicious as they currently are, but synched to every supported browser you use.
"They seem really attached to the idea that the data (or as they ponderously call it, 'the corpus') they have is very valuable."
This is very scary. This likely means that their data ... No, YOUR private data, is sitting on their servers, completely UNENCRYPTED.
Your bookmarks, your history.
This worries me greatly. If they can use YOUR private data to make money, then they can also give YOUR private data to any government organization that asks for it.
This is stark contract with for example Firefox Sync, which uses strong cryptography that is initiated by the client. The server simply stores encrypted blobs. There is no way anyone can look into your data. Or analyze it. Or sell it. Or give it away. Or get hacked and expose it.
Encrypted data is worth nothing to anyone except YOU the owner.
I love pinboard.in - I signed up when they were charging about $1 per signup and it works perfectly for me, the guy that runs it even setup a feature on my request and within about 24 hours of me requesting it! (tag specific user RSS feeds).
I'm surprised they didn't think of this before. Reddit did pretty much the same thing recently with 'Reddit Gold' which so far has been very successful for them.
My understanding is that they did try to sell Xmarks, but noone would want of them until this announcement and the subsequent massively suportive reaction from the community that revealed that people seem do infact be ready to pay for the service.
reminds me of the tr.im snafu... and then they ended up open sourcing everything because no one would pay 80-100k for it. the Xmarks folks seem more honorable, though.
I like to be able to use whatever browser I want, whenever I want, use the browser's native bookmarking, and have new bookmarks show up in whatever browser I run next (not to mention show up on iOS Safari).
Bookmark something in Chrome, leave my desk, check the bookmark on the iPad. Surf on the iPad on the train, bookmark some things, review those bookmarks in Firefox on the PC.
The built-in bookmark syncs don't do this, unless you're willing to only use a single browser on everything.
Xmarks does this. If you're a developer using multiple browsers, seems like Xmarks would be essential kit.
Sorry for the snarky remark. I think Xmarks is an excellent service and I've been a happy user for 6 months+. But when you send out an email saying you're done, and I move my bookmarks over to another service...well.....
For the record, Xmarks today is better than Chrome sync. If things work out for them, I'll move back.
This is a very sad news...... I know I can find other services, but I added this to my mom and dad's computers, and they do have now all their bookmarks + passwords saved.
No, they don't even know that (Xmarks) is running, and I don't even know how to tell then "hey, you should pledge 10 € here..."
That made me think: how many moms and dads are using this service??
Is the problem with starting free that you get people used to the idea that this is not a service you pay for?
Freemium (get a small service for free, pay for a better one) is one thing but this is "this used to be free, now it's not". At the very least that jars.
I think the real issue is that the likes of ChromeSync make the longevity of this business model very questionable.
Joel Spolsky once described this sort of thing as grabbing nickels from the path of an on-coming steamroller - you're making money out of something that the product should or will inevitably do as a standard feature. Yes there is money there for a while but inevitably the steamroller is going to flatten you.
I would happily have paid $10/year, but as soon as they made the announcement I went looking for alternatives. I was surprised to find that if you're happy just syncing between Firefox installs, "Firefox Sync" does everything XMarks does, (Bookmarks, Passwords, Preferences, History and Tabs) but with a slicker interface. And it will also be built into Firefox 4 rather than having to install the addon...
I no longer see the point in paying XMarks for it...
There are fine solutions within any single browser. But that's just a non-starter for those who don't want to be restricted to one browser across all environments.
When I read the announcement that they were closing, my first thought was "I would have paid money for this". I'm glad I may be able to if it means I'll get to keep using it.
When I read the initial announcement, and the subsequent comments, by first thought was "Oh, I didn't know Firefox provides this functionality now." I switched over immediately, and I don't plan to go back. Occasionally it's annoying to only have my bookmarks on one browser, but I typically only use one browser anyway. Most of the time I'm on Firefox, but when I need the corporate intranet I use IE. I have no desire to share all of my bookmarks with the intranet's ActiveX controls, so I'm happy to not be syncing them over.
Why don't they just charge for their iPhone app and use a fremium model? I'm blown away that they can't figure out a way to monetize 2 million users. If they don't get acquired I will be very shocked. I pledged that I am willing to pay, it's a bargain for how useful their service is. Also, why don't they just use kickstarter.com??
[+] [-] pvg|15 years ago|reply
They seem really attached to the idea that the data (or as they ponderously call it, 'the corpus') they have is very valuable. $9 million (with an impressive $2 mil/year burn rate) later they haven't figured out a way to extract any of that elusive value.
Browser bookmark sync is becoming a built-in feature in many popular browsers. Cross-browser support is an edge case that overlaps with the functionality of a number of web-based bookmarking services which generally offer a richer and more useful feature set than in-browser bookmarking.
In the period of about a week they've persuaded fewer than 30k of their users to maybe pay them $10/yr. This is probably not all that surprising given the above and the fact they've already announced that should they run into difficulties, they'll simply give up. Short of Stockholm Syndrome, it's hard to imagine why anyone would choose to rely on their service going forward, even if someone is foolish enough to buy them out.
[+] [-] SkyMarshal|15 years ago|reply
A great solution would be for Delicious/Yahoo to buy Xmarks and integrate the two technologies - your bookmarks are stored on Delicious as they currently are, but synched to every supported browser you use.
[+] [-] jacquesm|15 years ago|reply
Well, wait a bit longer and the price just might become right.
[+] [-] st3fan|15 years ago|reply
This is very scary. This likely means that their data ... No, YOUR private data, is sitting on their servers, completely UNENCRYPTED.
Your bookmarks, your history.
This worries me greatly. If they can use YOUR private data to make money, then they can also give YOUR private data to any government organization that asks for it.
This is stark contract with for example Firefox Sync, which uses strong cryptography that is initiated by the client. The server simply stores encrypted blobs. There is no way anyone can look into your data. Or analyze it. Or sell it. Or give it away. Or get hacked and expose it.
Encrypted data is worth nothing to anyone except YOU the owner.
[+] [-] wyclif|15 years ago|reply
@xmarks @PinboardIN hey if you've got some good ideas, we're all ears!
@PinboardIN @xmarks the model that has worked well for us is 'charge people money for a useful product or service'
http://twitter.com/PinboardIN/status/25734453850
[+] [-] hellweaver666|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jwegan|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] w1ntermute|15 years ago|reply
Or maybe this was their strategy for getting enough publicity to get more favorable acquisition offers...
[+] [-] agravier|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aditya|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aresant|15 years ago|reply
Once reported in "final" blog post - http://blog.xmarks.com/?p=1886
Once reported by Kara Swisher - http://kara.allthingsd.com/20100928/the-long-goodbye-xmarks-...
[+] [-] dasil003|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Terretta|15 years ago|reply
Bookmark something in Chrome, leave my desk, check the bookmark on the iPad. Surf on the iPad on the train, bookmark some things, review those bookmarks in Firefox on the PC.
The built-in bookmark syncs don't do this, unless you're willing to only use a single browser on everything.
Xmarks does this. If you're a developer using multiple browsers, seems like Xmarks would be essential kit.
[+] [-] blaix|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cyunker|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cyunker|15 years ago|reply
For the record, Xmarks today is better than Chrome sync. If things work out for them, I'll move back.
[+] [-] nod|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hop|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tichy|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] iburattini|15 years ago|reply
No, they don't even know that (Xmarks) is running, and I don't even know how to tell then "hey, you should pledge 10 € here..."
That made me think: how many moms and dads are using this service??
[+] [-] leonroy|15 years ago|reply
Only one person's willing to pay in my family...me :-P
[+] [-] Tyrannosaurs|15 years ago|reply
Freemium (get a small service for free, pay for a better one) is one thing but this is "this used to be free, now it's not". At the very least that jars.
I think the real issue is that the likes of ChromeSync make the longevity of this business model very questionable.
Joel Spolsky once described this sort of thing as grabbing nickels from the path of an on-coming steamroller - you're making money out of something that the product should or will inevitably do as a standard feature. Yes there is money there for a while but inevitably the steamroller is going to flatten you.
[+] [-] mike-cardwell|15 years ago|reply
I no longer see the point in paying XMarks for it...
[+] [-] ldh|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blaix|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DougWebb|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] FindSimilar|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lotusleaf1987|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] McKittrick|15 years ago|reply