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Pbase changing over to Pay Site - comments?

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Dan Koster

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I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations. We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I have all my pictures on another online source, but for public viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
 
Personally, $23 a year is cheap in my opinion (even for 100 megs). I would rather pay $23 a year to know the site will be there in the future rather than a free site that disappears down the road. This stuff is not cheap to run and maintain. Advertising will only pay for so much.

Remember all those web sites that let you store files on them? What happened to them? They went out of business (because they never had a business) and took their customer's files with them. I bet some of those people would pay $23 to get their files back.

Anyway, The days of the 'Free' internet are over. For web sites to stay in business they need to make money one way or the other. We pay for all kinds of products and services anywhere else. The web sites that will succeed are the ones that have something worth paying for. Just like every other business in this country.

Just my 2 cents. I could be wrong.
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
--
LMH
Fuji s602z
Fuji MX2900x
http://www.pbase.com/lmh/galleries
 
I also want to see Pbase.com as a free service, but for the purpose of sharing photo that I took with my digital camera in their original format (which means usually large file). This way we can let other people examine your photo to help you improve.

I don't use it for personal pictures (to share with friends and family), because I know alot of other place that can do that (snapfish, foto, msn etc)

And I've came across that some people use pbase to host pirate comics, and that's what killing all the bandwidth and storage space.

What I want to see from Pbase is to keep it free, but maybe only have restriction on the number of image on each account. (but then ppl will simply register multiple accounts...)
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
--
tailwind - S602Z
http://www.pbase.com/tailwind
 
OH please...

$23 is cheap compared to $20-30 a month people pay now for for as little as 20-50MB webspace. Most people are now paying $40-80 for highspeed service and $20 a month for 56k dialup and don't even get no more than 5-10 mb of space let alone a database for hosting photos. I would gladly pay $23 a year for their service. Less headaches for me trying to create and maintain a database like Pbase.
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/kwjones
 
Comments appreciated.

The basic reaction has been: "$23/yr - that's all?"

To that, I would like to respond.

Let's put this in perspective:

Many of you are familiar with Ron Hepworth's work that's posted on pbase. He claims to have 1776 photos on his account and at roughly 1.5 MB each (since they're all HQ images) that would be around 2664 MB of pictures. That would be about $50/month to keep the existing files (NOT counting adding new ones).

My basic gripe is that pbase is going to lose good customers who would have otherwise stayed on if they had created an "unlimited space" category for a flat fee, rather than just bill $23 for each 100 Mb used.

I'm not interested in keeping pbase free - it was good while it lasted, tho...

Instead, pbase should accomodate those who would use the space responsibly.

Also, you can't compare webhosting space with photo storage space...

You only upload photos, not content. If you use your webpage space to post pictures, you'll run out real fast...

I have an online storage service that charges me only $5/month for unlimited storage. They just don't allow public viewers to see the photos at full size - something my family enjoys (and a service that pbase is good for). Plus it's a nightmare to navigate.

Dan
 
Dan Koster said:
Comments appreciated.

The basic reaction has been: "$23/yr - that's all?"

To that, I would like to respond.

Let's put this in perspective:

Many of you are familiar with Ron Hepworth's work that's posted on
pbase. He claims to have 1776 photos on his account and at roughly
1.5 MB each (since they're all HQ images) that would be around 2664
MB of pictures. That would be about $50/month to keep the existing
files (NOT counting adding new ones).

My basic gripe is that pbase is going to lose good customers who
would have otherwise stayed on if they had created an "unlimited
space" category for a flat fee, rather than just bill $23 for each
100 Mb used.

I'm not interested in keeping pbase free - it was good while it
lasted, tho...

Instead, pbase should accomodate those who would use the space
responsibly.

Also, you can't compare webhosting space with photo storage space...

You only upload photos, not content. If you use your webpage space
to post pictures, you'll run out real fast...

I have an online storage service that charges me only $5/month for
unlimited storage. They just don't allow public viewers to see the
photos at full size - something my family enjoys (and a service
that pbase is good for). Plus it's a nightmare to navigate.

Dan
Click to expand...
To be honest I'm surprised Pbase have not made a compulsory charge before now, as you said it was good while it lasted. Many users however IMO have abused PBase, people like Ron Hepworth who it seems only likes to take pics of young ladies anyway! do it as part of/or to aspire their potential business interests. Storing thousands of pics costs money, and therefore it seems logical that a limit has to be in place, they have no choice. One cannot expect a service like Pbase to run on fresh air, maybe for the likes of Ron Hepworth who may require large amounts of space then they should have scaled business tarrifs. A lot of amateur photographers used Pbase purely for the convenience of posting pics to be viewed in these forums and by members of their family and friends etc. I cannot but feel that had people like Ron Hepworth been a little more considerate in the amount of space they used then the rest of us amateur photographers who maybe only store small numbers of pics would not be losing this valuable service quite so soon.

However it was inevitable that Pbase would have to charge at some point, and it only seems right that those people who use the most space pay the most money. I personally think that the charge proposed is quite reasonable, and although there are several alternatives, sadly very few match Pbase. Over the years I've written several shareware programs, and I know from experience that few people will pay unless they have to.

Grandpa
 
I agree 100%. Nobody needs to post 1776 pictures, available all the time. That's not amateur photographers at play here, but somebody abusing the system. Pbase is great for sharing your "current stuff" with others for comments, etc, not for hosting your entire library of photos. When pics are no longer relevant, they should be removed in order to free up space for other postings.

$23/year is nothing considering the quality and ease of use/access of Pbase. I will gladly put it up.

For guys like Ron, they should open up their wallets, and be prepared to pay up, if they want to use that much space.

Just my $2 (can$)

Mario
grandpa said:
Dan Koster said:
Comments appreciated.

The basic reaction has been: "$23/yr - that's all?"

To that, I would like to respond.

Let's put this in perspective:

Many of you are familiar with Ron Hepworth's work that's posted on
pbase. He claims to have 1776 photos on his account and at roughly
1.5 MB each (since they're all HQ images) that would be around 2664
MB of pictures. That would be about $50/month to keep the existing
files (NOT counting adding new ones).

My basic gripe is that pbase is going to lose good customers who
would have otherwise stayed on if they had created an "unlimited
space" category for a flat fee, rather than just bill $23 for each
100 Mb used.

I'm not interested in keeping pbase free - it was good while it
lasted, tho...

Instead, pbase should accomodate those who would use the space
responsibly.

Also, you can't compare webhosting space with photo storage space...

You only upload photos, not content. If you use your webpage space
to post pictures, you'll run out real fast...

I have an online storage service that charges me only $5/month for
unlimited storage. They just don't allow public viewers to see the
photos at full size - something my family enjoys (and a service
that pbase is good for). Plus it's a nightmare to navigate.

Dan
Click to expand...
To be honest I'm surprised Pbase have not made a compulsory charge
before now, as you said it was good while it lasted. Many users
however IMO have abused PBase, people like Ron Hepworth who it
seems only likes to take pics of young ladies anyway! do it as part
of/or to aspire their potential business interests. Storing
thousands of pics costs money, and therefore it seems logical that
a limit has to be in place, they have no choice. One cannot expect
a service like Pbase to run on fresh air, maybe for the likes of
Ron Hepworth who may require large amounts of space then they
should have scaled business tarrifs. A lot of amateur
photographers used Pbase purely for the convenience of posting pics
to be viewed in these forums and by members of their family and
friends etc. I cannot but feel that had people like Ron Hepworth
been a little more considerate in the amount of space they used
then the rest of us amateur photographers who maybe only store
small numbers of pics would not be losing this valuable service
quite so soon.
However it was inevitable that Pbase would have to charge at some
point, and it only seems right that those people who use the most
space pay the most money. I personally think that the charge
proposed is quite reasonable, and although there are several
alternatives, sadly very few match Pbase. Over the years I've
written several shareware programs, and I know from experience that
few people will pay unless they have to.

Grandpa
Click to expand...
--
MArio Carlo
http://www.pbase.com/mariomel
 
Out of all the comments so far nobody seems to have given a thought to the fact that pbase is really a kind of 'internatiional' site. It's no use saying $23 is cheap to pay .. but when you're in UK such as myself .. or other parts of the world, it just isn't that easy to just pay $23 ... the problems and cost of international exchamge of currency are very off-putting. It IS a shame if we are to lose this, as it really is the best site I know of .. one or two others that come up from time to time are pathetic in comparison and I can think of no other to equal it ... and how on earth am I then to post pics on the Forum. I wonder if pbase have considered the severe restrictions they are putting on overseas users. Yes, I know its got to be paid for someway - and it IS Abused I'm sure .. but it still isn't an answer to me or many others likewise.

EJN
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
--
EJN
 
EJN said:
Out of all the comments so far nobody seems to have given a thought
to the fact that pbase is really a kind of 'internatiional' site.
It's no use saying $23 is cheap to pay .. but when you're in UK
such as myself .. or other parts of the world, it just isn't that
easy to just pay $23 ... the problems and cost of international
exchamge of currency are very off-putting. It IS a shame if we are
to lose this, as it really is the best site I know of .. one or two
others that come up from time to time are pathetic in comparison
and I can think of no other to equal it ... and how on earth am I
then to post pics on the Forum. I wonder if pbase have considered
the severe restrictions they are putting on overseas users. Yes, I
know its got to be paid for someway - and it IS Abused I'm sure ..
but it still isn't an answer to me or many others likewise.

EJN
Click to expand...
This did cross my mind too Eric, but I dont think it would be too difficult to use your mastercard or similar, same as when paying for shareware or other stuff from abroad. Not quiet as easy as UK pounds of course but I've found purchases abroad have not been a problem with no hidden extra either as you normally get charged the exchange rate that applies at the time.
Dont think it will be any more difficult than paying one's Ebay bill. :-)

Grandpa
 
Fototime.com is about the same cost for 300 MB storage for 1 yr. Upgrades to more disk space is less expensive. I tried Pbase and I personally thought people abused it by posting 6 MP images for no reason when they could be viewed online at less than 1 MP. Pbase is nice but I think that they will need to have a much user friendly service to warrant such a cost.
grandpa said:
EJN said:
Out of all the comments so far nobody seems to have given a thought
to the fact that pbase is really a kind of 'internatiional' site.
It's no use saying $23 is cheap to pay .. but when you're in UK
such as myself .. or other parts of the world, it just isn't that
easy to just pay $23 ... the problems and cost of international
exchamge of currency are very off-putting. It IS a shame if we are
to lose this, as it really is the best site I know of .. one or two
others that come up from time to time are pathetic in comparison
and I can think of no other to equal it ... and how on earth am I
then to post pics on the Forum. I wonder if pbase have considered
the severe restrictions they are putting on overseas users. Yes, I
know its got to be paid for someway - and it IS Abused I'm sure ..
but it still isn't an answer to me or many others likewise.

EJN
Click to expand...
This did cross my mind too Eric, but I dont think it would be too
difficult to use your mastercard or similar, same as when paying
for shareware or other stuff from abroad. Not quiet as easy as UK
pounds of course but I've found purchases abroad have not been a
problem with no hidden extra either as you normally get charged the
exchange rate that applies at the time.
Dont think it will be any more difficult than paying one's Ebay
bill. :-)

Grandpa
Click to expand...
 
I hope that you're not serious about having the only copy of your files on the web with no backup! Pbase is fine for sharing photos but I wouldn't trust them or anyone else with my photos. I don't even trust my own pc. I have an orb drive backing them all up.

Mike.
LMH said:
Remember all those web sites that let you store files on them? What
happened to them? They went out of business (because they never had
a business) and took their customer's files with them. I bet some
of those people would pay $23 to get their files back.

Anyway, The days of the 'Free' internet are over. For web sites to
stay in business they need to make money one way or the other. We
pay for all kinds of products and services anywhere else. The web
sites that will succeed are the ones that have something worth
paying for. Just like every other business in this country.

Just my 2 cents. I could be wrong.
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
--
LMH
Fuji s602z
Fuji MX2900x
http://www.pbase.com/lmh/galleries
Click to expand...
 
What's the big deal about pbase becoming paid site, it's only rational for them to do so. But if they are going to charge $23/year/100MB, they might as well just forget about it.

Fotki.com costs $30/year for unlimited space and their interface is much more robust and user-friendly, IMHO.

Besides, you can order prints for $.19 for 4x6 as an added benefit(the qualiy is quite good as long as u "prepair" your images for printing, i.e. resize, adjust levels, contrast, etc...)

--
Zhenchik
http://www.fotki.com/zhenchik
 
I think this is appropriate for the type of service they provide. I have already paid my fee some months back because I did not feel "right" about exploiting the site with several hundred shots and not paying for it.

I shoot a lot of sports shots that are related to school activities (cross country, swimming, soccer, etc). I post my pictures at Pbase and share the URL with the parents so they can view and use the pictures. After a few weeks I remove them and post others. Pbase has been a very useful site for that purpose. Other sites limit the resolution viewers can use to view the pictures.

$2 or more a month is a deal for what you get.

Mooooo
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
 
Paying p-base from abroad is a cinch. All you need is a credit card (is there anyone out there without at least one?) and then to sign up with a service like Paypal. I do this from Switzerland to pay p-base and other web purchases - problem free. Check it out

regards
Steve
EJN said:
EJN
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.

I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.

'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
--
EJN
Click to expand...
--
Steve
Zurich, Switzerland
Fuji 4900Z & MX 2700
http://www.pbase.com/steveh
 
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.
Click to expand...
I personally don't mind paying for their service but I'll have to evaluate whether it's money well spent for me. I started using it because it's free and because I can share some of my pictures (obviously!). It's fun and it's easy, but I might just as well burn the images on cd and give it to the person I want to show the image to.

Sure, I upload some pictures for technical purposes if I want to discuss something over the web, like in these forums, but am I going to pay 23$ to discuss 5 or 6 pictures? I don't know yet...
Dan Koster said:
I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.
Click to expand...
I agree. But I guess it was bound not to remain a free service.
Dan Koster said:
'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
Take care,

Pieter
 
Nothing is free in this world anymore. I think Pbase should charge on a sliding scale. And I personally feel that there shodul be some free space on Pbase. Maybe for the fisr 10MB or so.

Like one of the earlier posts, if I want to just ask for opinions on one or two pics, I woudl not want to consider paying $23 a year! However, if I hosted 100 pics for one reason or another, I shoudl be forced to pay and cannot expect to get it for free.

If Pbase is to charge everyone $23 a year multiply that by the number of users! What a business!

Shagen
Pieter Gordebeke said:
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Dan,

Currently pbase is free but accepting donations. Different methods
of payment can be found at pbase.com/support. However, very soon
we will be charging customers 23 dollars a year, less than two
dollars a month, for 100Mbs of space. We need to start charging as
there are over 5 million photos on pbase and we average 1.7 million
page views a day. This uses
up a lot of bandwith which cannot be paid for in full by donations.
We
hope you continue to use pbase's services. Soon after we start
charging,
we will be improving pbase's reliability, adding password protected
galleries, improving search features, and many other features.

Thanks for your support
Elise
Technical Consultant

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I also found out that if you want more than 100 MB of space, you
will pay $23/yr. for each additional 100 MB. For some of us, that
won't really make a difference. For others, like myself, that will
make using a Pbase much too expensive.
Click to expand...
I personally don't mind paying for their service but I'll have to
evaluate whether it's money well spent for me. I started using it
because it's free and because I can share some of my pictures
(obviously!). It's fun and it's easy, but I might just as well burn
the images on cd and give it to the person I want to show the image
to.

Sure, I upload some pictures for technical purposes if I want to
discuss something over the web, like in these forums, but am I
going to pay 23$ to discuss 5 or 6 pictures? I don't know yet...
Pieter Gordebeke said:
I use Pbase for one purpose only: to share photos with family. I
have all my pictures on another online source, but for public
viewing, it's a real pain.
Click to expand...
I agree. But I guess it was bound not to remain a free service.
Pieter Gordebeke said:
'Tis a shame for those who have donated to try to keep Pbase free
who may now not be able to use it any longer.

Dan
Click to expand...
Take care,

Pieter
Click to expand...
 
Just for the record...

I never said I minded paying something for pbase.

I'm just annoyed that they won't offer different services.

I think it needs to be a pay service, but it needs accounts with unlimited space. Not just 100 MB.

That's why I think they'll lose customers. The unlimited accounts that have been mentioned so far are better services at comparable cost. Something about 100 Mb just seems so limiting. I have been with pbase for several years now and have done my fair share of browsing (killing the bandwidth, I'm sure) and would wager that probably 8 out of 10 galleries I have looked at have at least 3-5 sub galleries with 3-4 pages of photos. That's somewhere between 100-250 photos. At even just 1 Mb each, that would mean at least half of those people would need double the space.

Whatever your business, imagine telling half of your customers that not only do they half to pay for what used to be a free service (again, I'm not against this) but that they half to pay double.

Time will tell, I guess...

Hate to see a good thing go.

The obvious benefit to users of this forum is the ability to post pictures at high resolutions and view them at their original size.

As mentioned by others, that function (as a free offering) will be sorely missed.

Dan
 
I've been following the ongoing discussion about Pbase starting to charge to use the service.

I personally am not surprised, I know what it costs to run a small site, so one on their scale (storage and transfer) would be very expensive.

I signed up to Pbase several months ago, and I contributed ($23) just to hopefully keep the service running, I felt at that time that they would most likley have to start charging if they were to continue to operate. The volunteer method usually just doesn't work, not enough people who will volunteerly contribute.

I will continue to use Pbase. As for Pbase as a business, I wish them all the best. I know what it takes to get a business going, and I appllaud them for their efforts. I hope they DO make it big.

Just MHO, YMMV

Andyd

--
http://www.pbase.com/andyda
Shagen said:
Like one of the earlier posts, if I want to just ask for opinions
on one or two pics, I woudl not want to consider paying $23 a year!
However, if I hosted 100 pics for one reason or another, I shoudl
be forced to pay and cannot expect to get it for free.

If Pbase is to charge everyone $23 a year multiply that by the
number of users! What a business!

Shagen
Pieter Gordebeke said:
Dan Koster said:
I got this message from Elise at Pbase.com
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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