Article:		What Is Flickr (and Hot Tips for Using It)
Subject:		I still don't see the appeal...
Date:		2005-08-02 18:13:30
From:		byzantium
I don't understand why you didn't mention the early photo sharing sites like Ofoto and shutterfly. Surely Flickr is not the actual first site to enable photo sharing! I've seen the A-list bloggers go ga-ga over Flickr. I'm a photographer who shares a ton of photos on my own site. I have a blog. I've tried Flickr -- I don't get it. You can't even get real photographic prints from the site. Surely this is the most obvious thing anyone would want to do with a photo? bman

Showing messages 1 through 5 of 5.

• RE: I still don't see the appeal...
  2005-08-02 20:46:32  Derrick Story | [View]
  
  
  Well, of course, everyone has their preferences, and that's fine. But I do want to keep this discussion going.
  
  First, Ofoto (now Kodak EasyShare) and Shutterfly are great services. I use Shutterfly a lot for client proofs and think they do a good job. But I don't think of these services the same way I do flickr, which I also like.
  
  Flickr is the easiest way to take a shot I've just captured and share it with others, especially those who are my friends and family. I like the tagging system, uploading tools, RSS output, etc. Also, the site is just plain enjoyable to use. Browsing and looking at other photographers' work runs the entire spectrum from impressive to depressing.
  
  So even though other services, including .Mac are noteworthy, in general I feel flickr is the most innovative of the bunch and comes closest to a Web 2.0 application.
• RE: I still don't see the appeal...
  2005-08-03 08:09:36  Fraser Speirs | [View]
  
  
  Derrick,
  
  I feel that the point people miss at first glance with Flickr is that it's not just a "site", nor even a "Web 2.0 application" - it's a platform.
  
  To me it's analogous to "why should I choose a Pocket PC over a programmable calculator?" - because you know that you and others can extend and adapt the tool to do things that the designers never intended.
  
  People want that kind of platform remixability. You would not believe the number of people that have mailed me asking for a port of FlickrExport to other photo hosting services. Flickr's already there and doing it, with deep APIs, not just a form that you can POST to from a client.
  
  Fraser
• RE: I still don't see the appeal...
  2005-08-04 10:43:25  byzantium [View]
  
  
  So I've already invested hundreds of hours typing in keywords into Canto Cumulus for my collection of about 40,000 images.
  
  Now I've got to type those in again? I don't think so.
  
  I really don't see how Flickr helps professional photographers.
  
  bman
• RE: I still don't see the appeal...
  2005-08-19 23:58:14  jeremycherfas [View]
  
  
  If Canto can embed your keywords as IPTC metadata, at least Flickr will read them.
  
  Which is more than one can say for iPhoto.
  
• RE: I still don't see the appeal...
  2005-08-08 13:57:15  Giles Turnbull | [View]
  
  
  I take your point that Ofoto, etc have been around for longer, but I haven't seen a photo sharing service that matches Flickr in terms of building community and the process of actually sharing pictures. On every other site I've ever tried, you only get to browse one person's pictures at a time.
  
  On Flickr, the emphasis is on exploration and it is made very easy to share your own photos, and browse other people's.
  
  I know other sites have similar features, but I think Flickr's implementation of them is better.
  
  I'd say a professional photographer could do well simply by posting a handful of photos there, just to establish a presence and join the community. There's no need to post every one of 40,000; just your favorites.
  
  You're right about prints, though. That's something I'd expect them to offer very soon, especially now they have the financial might of Yahoo! behind them.