The Photobucket debacle.

[huckleberrypie]

Anyone heard of this lately? For some reason the image host has, in a rather boneheaded move, decided to charge users $400 for the ability to embed images to forums and other sites.

Unsurprisingly, this doesn't bode well with those who had stuff uploaded on said host for a long time, and rendered most images on various websites null and void due to the sudden change. While I do understand that running a file or media host with millions of users is a major undertaking, calling for immense space and bandwidth to carry most if not all, slapping such a huge fee without even warning users or going through a transition period is draconian, plain and simple. And yet Imgur seems to be fine and dandy with all them memes and so on, just as the post abides by their rules.

[cpd2009]

I never have used Photobucket, and don't think I will following this news.

Back in the day, one of my old friends used to have disdain for Photobucket. The main reason was he only had dial-up internet when most of the world was going towards modern DSL, me included. Apparently Photobucket images would download very slowly on his dial-up internet, hence he didn't like it when members of the groups he was in would use Photobucket for image hosting. I believe he extended this as a rule for some of the Yahoo groups he managed IIRC.

Personally, I would either use Flickr or Imgur. Flicker has special BBCode for use on forums, but it also ends up leaving a link back to Flickr. This is a rule for free Flickr accounts as any images that you embed must link back to their site. So for most people, Imgur would be a better option since it doesn't have that restriction.

[huckleberrypie]

I never have used Photobucket, and don't think I will following this news.

Back in the day, one of my old friends used to have disdain for Photobucket. The main reason was he only had dial-up internet when most of the world was going towards modern DSL, me included. Apparently Photobucket images would download very slowly on his dial-up internet, hence he didn't like it when members of the groups he was in would use Photobucket for image hosting. I believe he extended this as a rule for some of the Yahoo groups he managed IIRC.

Personally, I would either use Flickr or Imgur. Flicker has special BBCode for use on forums, but it also ends up leaving a link back to Flickr. This is a rule for free Flickr accounts as any images that you embed must link back to their site. So for most people, Imgur would be a better option since it doesn't have that restriction.

Though either way at least their business model isn't as draconian as what PB did, demanding a hefty sum for those who would want to link offsite. I mean, that's primarily the point why everyone relied on Photobucket, and it's not just for stashing things off an account for private use. Having a major barrier to entry would be a big turnoff for those interested in using such a service.