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Farewell

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kstuebin
 
Posts: 1541

Re: Farewell

Post Wed May 22, 2013 11:19 am


Whatever. I'm not turning this into Flickr is dying or Flickr is the new hipster site. Time will tell on that one. A lot of people are going to ipernity.com, btw, if anyone wants an alternative. I was hoping they'd come here but I guess Pbase isn't as well know and Pbase doesn't have groups like Flickr.

This whole thread started because someone left because they thought Pbase was passe now.

My point is I really hope that Pbase doesn't make some kind of huge and drastic change. Pbase doesn't have 8 million users like Flickr and they can't take the hit of people leaving the site. There has been deafening silence from management for quite some time. The last time this happened they rolled out the new editor. Which actually was a good thing. I just hope they learn from the outcry at Flickr that people do not like change. In particular, change that targets a small portion of the user base and makes the site a ugly mess for everyone else.

I still say Pbase looks so refreshingly clean after looking at the new Flickr and maybe it's become so retro now, the look is in again. I don't know. It is just a lot easier and more pleasant to view photos here.

And like everyone, I hope the current issues are cleared up. And I hope Emily communicates again at some point too.

orogeny
 
Posts: 4

Re: Farewell

Post Wed May 22, 2013 12:24 pm


I really like the layout of pbase, but I don't like the lack of response to requests for features. Little things like being able to upload directly from Lightroom. That feature makes using Flickr so easy versus having to manually convert a raw image as a jpg and manually uploading to pbase. Not only is Flickr easier, it is much faster.

I also don't like the size limit. Flickr is now giving 1 TB storage for free while we are paying $23/year for 1 GB. That is something I really don't understand.

I renewed my subscription this year, but this may be the last time. I don't look forward to closing my account. I have had a subscription since 2003.

Tim

amoxtli
 
Posts: 3296
Location: San Diego, California

Re: Farewell

Post Wed May 22, 2013 3:33 pm


kstuebin wrote: A lot of people are going to ipernity.com


This farewell thread is turning into something else. Nice!

I just checked out "ipernity.com" as suggested. Went to their "map" function and found only three sets of photographs taken in San Diego and environs, and none were any good. I'd say 500px is better.
Walter Otto Koenig Architectural Photography: http://www.wokoenig.net

General Photography: http://www.wokoenig.com

Pacific Photographic Society: http://www.pacificphoto.net

kstuebin
 
Posts: 1541

Re: Farewell

Post Wed May 22, 2013 4:43 pm


amoxtli wrote:
kstuebin wrote: A lot of people are going to ipernity.com


This farewell thread is turning into something else. Nice!

I just checked out "ipernity.com" as suggested. Went to their "map" function and found only three sets of photographs taken in San Diego and environs, and none were any good. I'd say 500px is better.


I think ipernity is new. People are going there because it looks similar to the old Flickr. And Flickr had a very strong social component with its many groups. A lot of people were only on there for the groups. Like me. :) I rarely uploaded photos there. But they have many film and specific camera groups.

500px is a nice site and so is Zenfolio but they are photography sites.

I think Pbase captures the best of both worlds. It has the community spirit and the clean interface. In fact, with css modification, you can basically have your page look any way you want. I hope they update the site so people can upload seamlessly from mobile devices and also fix the glitches plaguing us. And communicate. And then I think it would be near to perfect.

madlights
 
Posts: 914

Re: Farewell

Post Wed May 22, 2013 8:43 pm


I think to some degree Flickr has shot itself in the foot as a site for people with cameras. It seems designed, and maybe properly so for Ipads and phones. I think the new design, although admittedly offering a lot of storage, is way too busy for me. Thinking that it's going to hurt some groups and the communities that have built up around them. The whole thing reminds me of Flickriver, an endless stream of photos - like being bombarded by a machine gun...without a chance to really look at any without stopping the interface to do so. Maybe I'm wrong and haven't tried to work the interface correctly...I do know if you hit "edit" on your own site, it returns to the previous look Flickr once had (but seems only for your own site). To much of a degree, I can't understand what they are doing to "pro" accounts...does it mean they don't want any new people seriously interested in photography? Since they are doubling the price for new "Pro" accounts, and not giving many benefits (even taking away the badges from my understanding). Who has 2TB of good photos? It seems they are offering cloud storage is all.
Well anyway, haven't posted on PBase for a few months...not anything to do with PBase. Call it "Photoblock"...I haven't seen too many sites with the ability to customize that PBase still has.... And when I'm looking at photos I really like to stop and look at them, very rarely even using PBase's slide show. So even though PBase has somewhat lagged with improvements, and breaks down now and again, it seemed and still seems to be relativity easy to navigate. There is danger in radical change, as to me Flickr's change could mean, and in sort of a related sense Adobe's change with no alternatives for many but the "Creative Cloud" rental expedition. Change 'can' be for better or worse.

sthuman
 
Posts: 97

Re: Farewell

Post Thu May 23, 2013 3:40 am


danpolley wrote:Flickr or not there is NO EXCUSE for the lack of response to major issues with Pbase. I am a long time member and still don't understand the elementary management of this site.


I completely agree, there is no good excuse for the lack of response. As far as correcting things, pbase has been around over ten years with little change in how the galleries and uploading and the forums and commenting system etc work. Writing code to make a site like this was very different back then. It's quite possible the system is very difficult to make changes or even corrections to. It probably doesn't have much flexibility to do more than it does and that same lack of flexibility could well prevent them from fixing things without the risk of a huge meltdown. My suspicion is the way it's written makes it beyond their ability to change much without a total rewrite. And who knows what sort of havock that could bring. Perhaps we can feel blessed they don't do much, otherwise we may end up with the whole thing crashing?

amoxtli
 
Posts: 3296
Location: San Diego, California

Re: Farewell

Post Thu May 23, 2013 2:29 pm


sthuman wrote:
danpolley wrote:Flickr or not there is NO EXCUSE for the lack of response to major issues with Pbase. I am a long time member and still don't understand the elementary management of this site.


I completely agree, there is no good excuse for the lack of response. As far as correcting things, pbase has been around over ten years with little change in how the galleries and uploading and the forums and commenting system etc work. Writing code to make a site like this was very different back then. It's quite possible the system is very difficult to make changes or even corrections to. It probably doesn't have much flexibility to do more than it does and that same lack of flexibility could well prevent them from fixing things without the risk of a huge meltdown. My suspicion is the way it's written makes it beyond their ability to change much without a total rewrite. And who knows what sort of havock that could bring. Perhaps we can feel blessed they don't do much, otherwise we may end up with the whole thing crashing?


I agree with you. I'm happy the way PBase is when it functions correctly. Having tried out most of the other photo hosting sites, I like the degree of customization possible on PBase and of course the sense of community, as well as the lack of advertising, etc. I am certain if a major overhaul were made here (if that is even possible) there would be a major outcry as happened with flickr. What I don't like about PBase is the lack of response and communication, and this feeling of uncertainty when things start going wrong. Regular communication from Management and response to emails would be so easy to do. It would only take a few seconds. I have always been puzzled why they conduct business in this manner.
Walter Otto Koenig Architectural Photography: http://www.wokoenig.net

General Photography: http://www.wokoenig.com

Pacific Photographic Society: http://www.pacificphoto.net

jypsee
 
Posts: 1247

Re: Farewell

Post Fri May 24, 2013 5:31 am


Flickr is just as unresponsive as Pbase. If you need help you visit the help forums. There's no real mechanism for interacting about issues that I can see.

As for the flickr wall of pictures (or "river" of sights/images/photos), I find it to be enervating and interesting. We don't see the world in discrete frames; we see it all at once. The thing that Pbase has that's so wonderful is the ability to actually create that wall or gallery layout. And to change the layout and order as you wish.

mikelong
 
Posts: 670

Re: Farewell

Post Fri May 24, 2013 7:26 am


What I find interesting is that social media companies can't leave well enough alone. They're very much in touch with consumer trends and the demand for constant changes, updates, upgrades (FB, Flickr, Firefox, Apple, etc, etc). A competition to attract or maintain consumers because (apparently) consumers demand it. But when these changes occur there's this huge outcry against it until consumers become conditioned to the changes, and then the process repeats itself.

Personally, they can leave pbase alone so long as they keep it up and running.

heez10
 
Posts: 301

Re: Farewell

Post Fri May 24, 2013 12:10 pm


I love Pbase and this is where my friends are but...some of my pictures look better on Flickr! Have any of you experienced this?

aorimages
 
Posts: 22

Re: Farewell

Post Fri May 24, 2013 2:28 pm


Hmmm...someone praising Flickr.Might be a different story after the monumental cock up of the last few days.Please PBASE if you are going to make changes, don't make such a mess of things as they have at Flickr and consider your photographers wishes. Maybe now might be a good time to try and enlist some of those who are deserting Flickr.
Hugh

heez10
 
Posts: 301

Re: Farewell

Post Fri May 24, 2013 3:07 pm


aorimages wrote:Hmmm...someone praising Flickr.Might be a different story after the monumental cock up of the last few days.Please PBASE if you are going to make changes, don't make such a mess of things as they have at Flickr and consider your photographers wishes. Maybe now might be a good time to try and enlist some of those who are deserting Flickr.
Hugh

You did not answer my question, it is about quality...and I have used Flikr for storage for a long time and for the camera groups!

mikelong
 
Posts: 670

Re: Farewell

Post Fri May 24, 2013 3:37 pm


heez10 wrote:I love Pbase and this is where my friends are but...some of my pictures look better on Flickr! Have any of you experienced this?


I owned a pro account for one year, which I chose not to renew last year. My photos looked exactly the same on Flickr as on pbase - no difference at all.

Mike

heez10
 
Posts: 301

Re: Farewell

Post Fri May 24, 2013 9:34 pm


mikelong wrote:
heez10 wrote:I love Pbase and this is where my friends are but...some of my pictures look better on Flickr! Have any of you experienced this?


I owned a pro account for one year, which I chose not to renew last year. My photos looked exactly the same on Flickr as on pbase - no difference at all.

Mike

Thanks Mike!

septembermorn
 
Posts: 201

Re: Farewell

Post Sat May 25, 2013 11:33 pm


I have made many friends from all over the world at PBase and many of them will be lifelong friends, some travelling from Poland to Louisiana to meet. I like PBase specifically because it has stayed the same. I only wish the POPULAR GALLERIES OF 2010 HAD stayed the same. I do not like it now.

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