Free Photo Services. Use It Or Lose It.

I got the news recently, in an email, that they don’t want me anymore.

That hurts. Sort of.

But, I get it. Relationships are a two way street and I guess I dropped out. Didn’t pay attention. Things got in the way.

So there it was.

“It’s been awhile since you logged in . . . Due to inactivity, your account is scheduled for deletion on March 1, 2023”

And in some form or other, that message has been going around the last few months to users of several formerly free online services.

Last year Google capped its free photo storage at 15GB. Shutterfly, which offered free photo storage for years now requires a purchase every 18 months, and shut down its free Share Sites altogether. Of course, Amazon includes unlimited photo storage with a Prime Membership, which kind of makes it feel free, but really isn’t, and only includes up to 5GB of videos. But Amazon Drive is going away, which was a handy way to store extra images.

The list goes on.

And the message is clearer every day. Offering free photo storage and sharing forever is not a sustainable business model. There’s no free lunch.

Online services have grown up right along with all of us as we’ve learned to become avid users of photos and videos in our daily lives. 1.5 trillion photos per year by the latest estimates.

That’s a lot of server farms to support “The Cloud.”. And server farms to back up those server farms. And remote server farms to make those photos available worldwide. Oh, and a network to connect it all.

It’s a big, big, expensive deal. And something has to support it.

Back in the day, those expenses were propped up by venture capital, public offerings, and the frenzy for growing a robust user base. Massive scaling made “free” a legitimate strategy among tech companies for a long time. Amazon was founded in 1994 and didn’t turn any profit until late 2001. New companies expected to operate in the red for awhile just because it worked for Jeff.

Times are different now, and even the big boys like Google and Amazon are no longer inclined to offer “free” photo services without some clear path to your pocket book. Small companies, like my breakup letter, even less.

So what does it all mean for us?

First, free photo services are are just a loyalty/marketing/research/sweetener tool that can be changed, charged for, or eliminated by the provider as they see fit. That’s not to say these services aren’t a great deal, but you have to understand the intent, enjoy the ride, and be willing to accept any changes that their business might demand in exchange,

Second, as a bare minimum, the provider is using free services as a way to connect with you and present offers you might want. If you never open an email or respond to a deal, the time may come when continuing to have your stuff on their servers for free isn't justified, as Shutterfly found. Google has warned that inactive and over quota (15GB) content "may" be deleted after 2 years.

Finally, there’s the fact that you are working with assets (photos and videos) that have a lifespan measured in decades and a value approaching priceless. Entrusting them completely to a service that is younger than my cat, and subject to the buying/selling/pivoting/economy/competition that is business seems short sighted.

So here’s my take on it all.

Digital photo management is not an “either / or” proposition when it comes to using free services. The trick is to use these services as an “add-on” to your photo/video management and not to make it the central collection hub. By keeping your master library local - on your own computer - and distributing copies for print and book production, online sharing, and file transfers, you can always walk away from an online service if they make a change. Then you haven’t lost anything.

Also, if you find a service that really improves your photo experience, consider paying for it. Especially for clever apps that may have just one developer behind them. I try out many apps that have a free limited feature set to see if I like it. If so, I buy the paid version to support the developer and encourage more development. I believe it’s the digital version of buying local.

Speaking of cost, I see regular posts that complain about Apple’s iCloud pricing, but I see it as cheap insurance. For less than I spend on Netflix, it gets me better online photo services than anywhere else, the best security/privacy protection in the business, and good support with real people. As long as iCloud is a profit center for the company and is integral to their whole ecosystem I have a lot more faith in its survival than any of the free alternatives. Sure, Apple is the Big Dog in this story, but the principle is the same. If you create great stuff, I think you should be rewarded for it.

So what about my Dear John letter?

It’s a cool app/service called 1 Second Everyday. Frankly, I’d forgotten about it. But it’s a brilliant concept - a photo or 1 second video clip, made from your camera roll, showing something from each day for a week/month/year/whatever as a short video. It’s the kind of thing that raises the bar on experiencing photos and reminds us that every image is a bookmark on our life journey. Easy to make and delightful to view.

Soooooooo . . . sure. I’ll keep that going and sign in again.

And, who knows? Maybe I’ll get the Pro version.

It’s nice to be wanted.