Picnik has announced that it is making its premium editing features, previously restricted to Premium members only, available to everyone for free. They will maintain the Premium subscription, at $24.95 USD per year, for people who want new advanced editing tools, full screen editing, fonts from FontShop, and more.
This is a sad day for people, who like me were hoping that rich Internet applications would be monetized by subscription, rather than advertising. (Picnik will be adding in advertising for non Premium members to supplement the loss of revenue.)
The move is obviously a reaction to FotoFlexer’s announcement that its editing tools will be made available for free.
Still, I’m disappointed. First, I don’t think that having advertising in an RIA like Picnik makes any sense whatsoever (banner ads rarely make sense anywhere). Unless they find a way to make the ads relevant, users will end up with mass media advertising at the top of every page – surely a distraction to most, and something that negatively affects the (otherwise amazing) user experience.
Secondly, its sad to see that the value of an amazing online application continues to erode. I really like Picnik, and actually think its worth $24.95 a year. Its disappointing that not many others see the value in that. I’m hoping that one of the online editors can find where the value is for the end user – with these two announcements its obvious not in the editor itself.
Here’s hoping that someone figures it out soon – the last thing we need is more banner advertising online.
More at Mashable. Ryan Stewart also has some great things to say.
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