Yahoo Photos is dying, but its passing shouldn’t be traumatic – the site’s parent company is doing everything it can to prepare people for the inevitable event.
R.I.P. Yahoo Photos
A recent post on Yahoo Anecdotal suggests that users take their photos to Flickr before September 20th, and Tim Anderson explains, “The next time you log in to Yahoo! Photos, you’ll see your options for moving your entire collection with just one click.”
Users who choose to accept that set of options may soon feel right at home again, as Anderson also notes, “Many of creative folks behind Yahoo! Photos are heading over to the Flickr team, giving us even more ammo for future innovation.”
But, to its credit, Yahoo isn’t trying to force anyone into taking that path; in addition to giving over three months’ notice, the company has presented users with several alternatives. “[I]n case Flickr isn’t for you (no hard feelings), we’re also providing easy ways to move your photos to other services (including Shutterfly, Kodak Gallery, Snapfish or Photobucket), download them, or get them on an archive CD,” writes Anderson.
That’s nice, and a bit funny, too – Anderson has to be one of the most agreeable corporate reps I’ve ever come across (and I use the term “rep” loosely, as Anderson likely isn’t a fulltime PR guy). News Blog’s Stephen Shankland advises people to take advantage of this flexibility. “Look at the options carefully before you switch,” he suggests. “Some are offering perks such as free prints, and others don’t support some Yahoo Photos features such as tags.”
Shankland then adds, “Conspicuously missing from the migration list is Picasa, the photo-sharing site run by Yahoo archrival Google,” but, well, you can’t honestly have expected Yahoo to be that cooperative.
As Yahoo Photos goes to its grave, users should be able to rest easy (no pun intended) that getting over it won’t be too hard.
