Xmarks May Not Be Dead After All

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Xmarks May Not Be Dead After All

Posted by kdawson on Thursday September 30, 2010 @03:49PM from the call-from-the-governor dept.

gatorfan sends word that Xmarks, which announced its upcoming closure a few days back, may not be so dead after all. The outcry from people willing to pay for the service was so loud that the company has now posted a pledge that users can sign if they are willing to pay for the service, and they say that they have fielded inquiries from several organizations who might be willing to buy the company's assets and keep the service going.

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whatmarks? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-30 15:51 · Score: 4, Insightful

maybe put something in the summary about what it is.
1. Re:whatmarks? by mirix · 2010-09-30 15:59 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  xmarks the spot, obviously.
  
  --
  Sent from my PDP-11
2. Re:whatmarks? by Rary · 2010-10-01 01:55 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Ya know, you don't even have to click on any of the links in the summary, but rather just hover over the first link to learn that XMarks is a bookmark synchronizer.
  More specifically, it's a centralized service plus a plugin for all major browsers so that you can have the same bookmarks in every browser on every machine you use. Further, it lets you create profiles for your bookmarks, so that you can have slightly different bookmarks on different machines based on what you use that machine for (ie. your "home" bookmarks don't show up on your "work" machine). And for those who don't trust the centralized bookmark repository, you can even set up your own XMarks server (albeit slightly limited in functionality) and not have to trust them.
  In short: it's pretty damn cool.
  
  --
  "You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
google says.... by metalmaster · 2010-09-30 15:53 · Score: 2, Informative

Its a bookmark and sync app. Idk why theres such a big outcry if there are many alternatives
1. Re:google says.... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-30 16:03 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Your comment leads me to believe that you've never used it. For a substantial period of time it was the only sync app (which you would know if you read the original XMarks article), and it became quite popular. It's true that there are alternatives now, but the researching I did when I was looking to change led me to believe that they don't support as much as XMarks does. If you take into account that XMarks can sync bookmarks, history, open tabs, and passwords across several browsers across all the browser's supported OS's you can see why people would be a little upset.
  Regardless, people despise change. How would you feel if your favorite pub closed? There are probably plenty of pubs that are just about the same nearby, but I know I would be sad.
2. Re:google says.... by Wayne247 · 2010-09-30 16:18 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  None of the alternatives work across several browsers on multiple platforms. I have xmarks on chrome, firefox, safari on 2 windows pc and one mac, plus the iphone. All through xmarks.
  There are no alternatives at the moment.
3. Re:google says.... by plover · 2010-09-30 16:54 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Oddly enough, xmarks does allow backing up to a custom server. I haven't used their official server in a couple of years, because I don't really want them harvesting my bookmarks, nor do I want them examining all my google search results.
  I mean it's a neat concept and all, if you like that whole "sharing with a couple million people" thing. I'm just not that guy.
  
  --
  John
4. Re:google says.... by usasma · 2010-09-30 21:49 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  It's cross-browser and it's very good at what it does. I've used it and loved it for a long, long time. But they announced a closure, so I switched by sync apps around. I'm not going to go back to them "just in case" they decide to stay in business.
5. Re:google says.... by helix2301 · 2010-09-30 23:33 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Well the integration is so smooth its really idiot proof and it just works great. Plus anywhere you go and no matter if your computer crashes you always have your bookmarks. Fantastic service hope it lives on.
  
  --
  http://www.thetechnologygeek.org
6. Re:google says.... by tangelogee · 2010-10-01 01:13 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Its a bookmark and sync app. Idk why theres such a big outcry if there are many alternatives
  Because it's really the only one that does so across browsers...
uhuh... by YoshiDan · 2010-09-30 15:56 · Score: 4, Interesting

This is probably what they planned all along. I mean really... If they were in such trouble and couldn't afford to keep running they would have just started charging. At least this way by saying "we're closing down because we can't afford to run" they got people to offer to pay without pissing too many people off by suddenly becoming a paid service.
1. Re:uhuh... by Grismar · 2010-09-30 18:28 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Yes, because telling everyone you're closing down and then waiting a couple of days to see them move to alternatives before announcing your clever plan works - way better than just coming out with the news "sorry guys, the only way we can survive is by charging a fee"
  That's nonsense of course. You're creating a false dichotomy: either you do what XMarks did or "suddenly becoming a paid service". There would have been plenty of ways to deal with it more graciously, if they had planned to switch to a paid model. But the fact of the matter seems to be that they didn't think there would be enough paying customers. In fact, they've asked their users about this in the past, I've been with them since early beginnings. I think they were simply surprised by the number of users that turned out to be willing to pay, faced with the alternative of the service just disappearing.
  What is strange about all this is the fact that XMarks was unable to find a buyer or investor, if it now turns out XMarks can make a living out of selling this service. What did these investors see that XMarks doesn't? Will XMarks survive, or will they come to the same conclusion as the investors and decide it will never make a decent profit?
Publicity Stunt? by HenryKoren · 2010-09-30 15:56 · Score: 4, Interesting

But not a bad one at that... Why simply implement a premium pricing plan when you can get a bunch of free press and encourage a public outpouring their love for your product.
I signed the pledge.

--
To blog is sublime
1. Re:Publicity Stunt? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-10-01 01:26 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  But Xmarks did tell you. They gave you alternatives. They even were going to keep Xmarks active until January so you'd have time to research and find a viable alternative.
  They had no reason to believe that enough people would pay to support their server costs, especially since they had been asking for donations and receiving nowhere near enough. Then, after they announced they were closing, the massive response convinced them to reevaluate their options, believing that maybe they could earn enough to keep Xmarks alive after all.
  I can't see anything wrong with their approach to this issue.
2. Re:Publicity Stunt? by Tisha_AH · 2010-10-01 02:05 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  I do not believe that this is a publicity stunt through up by some marketing department. The amount of money they are asking for is very modest and can probably pay for the electricity, network connectivity, server space and a developer or two.
  I have used Xmarks for several years and it has been a painless experience to sync across machines and platforms. In fact it is so easy to use that I forget that there is a real application running somewhere that takes care of the synchronization and storage.
  If they renew their pledge for data privacy and keep it spam/ adware free I will pay a modest annual fee to keep the service up and running.
  For those who want to gripe about paying $10 - $20 for this service, either you have never used it or you are whining on the grounds that "all software should be free and someone else should donate the hardware, administrative expenses and electricity".
  Be real folks, this would cost as much as one pizza, once a year.
  
  --
  Tisha Hayes
Stuck in a moment they can't get out of. by LostCluster · 2010-09-30 16:00 · Score: 4, Interesting

These "We're shutting down... oh no we're not!" stories remind me of a electronics/appliances store around here called Bernie's. See, they were losing money and decided to go out of business. They started a Going Out of Business sale and under state law, you can't advertise a Going Out of Business sale without going out of business immediately afterwards. But, a funny thing happens when you start discounting things like TVs and Monster Cables below their minimum advertised price and offering your customers good value for what they pay and cutting down on returns with an All Sales Final policy. You become... gasp... PROFITABLE!
It's legal to bring in new inventory even during a Going Out of Business sale, so they're restocking with versions of products that didn't exist when the "Going Out of Business Sale" and they've been stuck going out of business for years. It's a business model that works for them.
Warning: Pay for ZoneEdit or you'll lose free DNS. by LostCluster · 2010-09-30 16:10 · Score: 3, Informative

Also in the business-model-change department that users of this site will care about, ZoneEdit is transitioning accounts to a new business model soon. People who enjoyed five free domains worth of DNS service will see their free service cut to two domains (potentially leaving some forgotten-about sites unreachable) unless they've paid for credits for their premium services at some point in the past. They're also multiplying stored credits by 12 because they're going monthly instead of annual credit usage.
There isn't an alternative by schnikies79 · 2010-09-30 16:10 · Score: 2, Insightful

I signed the pledge.
I tried Firefox sync but it's not quite as good and it's not cross-browser.

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Gone!