There is billions of dollars worth of porn in the flickr database, I don’t see how they would not cash in on that. And they will claim that by filtering they are protecting minors.

Marc

Apple and Yahoo! are no different as well. You’re not implying that they don’t try to go out and make money either, are you?

Microsoft is all about MONEY. Everything they have “purchased” has been rolled into the “Microsoft Money Machine.” Unfortunately, in doing so, they seem to have subverted some of the original intent of the organizations they have purchased. Yahoo! has done the same thing, (GeoCities). Both will trash a product in a heartbeat if they feel it isn’t making them a profit – as any good business should.

I doubt MS would marry Flickr to IE – the market penetration of Macs in digital imaging is too large to cut out that many photographers. However, I don’t see a vast majority of computer users, (who are, after all, Windows users), complaining about more Microsoft domination of their online lives.

As Yahoo! seems to be on the verge of finding out, there may be no choice, but to go with Microsoft. If so, I’ll give them a try until my “Pro” subscription to Flickr runs out. If they maintain it as a viable online experience that meets my needs, I will consider staying with them. Microsoft ownership of companies, such as Hotmail, has not yielded a very good customer experience. I doubt Flickr would be any different.

Then there is the nasty little thing of getting this whole deal through the SEC…

Doesn’t that sound exactly like the Apple TV?

Yeah, imagine. Imagine the 3 minute boot up, the freezing picture, the cursing out the TV, the whirring noise of struggling chips and fans, the “hang on, it’ll start working in a minute – no, really.” And then the adverts….

Any more photophlow invites? (emailed you) ^_^

What monopoly? There is no monopoly. There’s options. If people don’t like those options, oh well. But there are options, and NOBODY is forcing people to use Microsoft stuff. There’s tons of alternatives, so there’s no monopoly.

History of companies and people is stupid. Things CHANGE. Companies change. A decade ago, I wouldn’t have thought much of Apple, but they’ve transformed. Microsoft has been changing too. Some of their latest stuff actually show quality.

Microsoft isn’t totally open, but they’ve joined Dataportability.net, Live Writer is practically open up to numerous blog services, Windows Live has tons of API’s that allow developers to develop whatever, Xbox 360 has DivX support, they now sell high quality DRM-free MP3′s, etc. Tell me that’s not open.

And your censorship theory is just a theory. A dumb theory if you ask me. That sounds more like Google than anything. Have you ever seen the “Google Master Plan” movie?

Yahoo! has a thing for censorship more than the other 2. They turned in several Chinese citizens arrested in China.

It’s sad to see people be so pessimistic all the time. Always thinking the bad about things.

Microsoft’s probably going to cut down on the pro account fees, just to keep in the users (which is good!), integrate some of their latest photo technology somehow (but not forcibly) in Flickr. And like Thomas said, integrate it with some of their awesome products.

I can’t wait to see.

http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/5210/fuck20the20system3lm.jpg

Well, obviously, the death of Flickr would bring glee to the competition. Have you used Zooomr? Is it good?