September 28th, 2010
Well, it is a sad day in Firefox Extension Land because Xmarks has announced it will be biting the dust soon. The cross browser bookmark syncing tool will shut down service January 10, 2011. I am sad to see Xmarks become another failed experiment for the Web, but hopefully the great minds and people behind the product will move on to bigger and better things.
It is totally understandable to have to give things up if the money is not there. Believe me, I know it is hard to be profitable out there – as the only money I make on my projects is though my website advertisements. However, even though I have thousands of readers, ad clicks aren’t really making it easy to quit my day job (even if I wanted to). Maybe this will serve as a reminder that it is hard for good things to remain free, and if you enjoy using a product – you should look for ways to give back to the development of the product.
One thing is for certain, the world of bookmark syncing has to thank Xmarks for paving the way. For Firefox users, Firefox Sync will soon be your built in replacement for the Xmarks-like bookmark syncing.
Todd Agulnick, the Co-Founder of Xmarks sums things up nicely here:
I’d like to thank our investors, who stuck with us through uncertain times; my colleagues, who toiled long hours in search of a scalable business; our localizers, who made Xmarks available in 33 languages; and our users, for their unstinting support and willingness to tell us quickly and candidly when we misstepped. You will all be missed.
So long Xmarks – you will be missed!
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© Mitch Keeler 2010 | Check out my personal blog and my hosting podcast too!
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