AOL to Kill Off Xdrive and Other Services as it Tightens Belt, say Reports
The sky today is looking dark for a number of AOL Web services and Web sites.
According to an internal memo acquired by TechCruch AOL Vice-President, Kevin Conroy, says three properties ? Bluestring, Xdrive and AOL Pictures ? will "sunset." That's just a nice way of dressing up the fact AOL will kill those services off.
Conroy also noted "we are exploring plans to migrate our users assets to ensure the best possible transition experience." Yeah, I'm sure putting it this way made AOL staff feel a whole lot better about the idea - not.
When It Rains, It Pours at AOL
AOL also, according to this same memo, will "halt further investment in AIMWorld and will sunset MyMobile next year." The company also plans to merge its AOL Video Portal with a similar AOL division.
It doesn't get much better for AOL bloggers, including those who came over when AOL acquired Weblogs Inc and its successful network of blogs. A memo mentioned at Paidcontent details a request from management to hold off on "posting on the blogs through next Thursday, July 31" to help "safeguard against further budget overages." To make matters worse, the blog DIY Life will be shut down while two others are being extremely cut back.
The apparent decisions AOL to shutter some sites and cut content back on others not only hurts its employees but also has potential to alienate users. These sites, especially the blogs, have loyal followings - albeit it apparently not enough to fufilll AOL's bottomline. It still amounts to a black eye for the company though, as disgruntled online consumers will likely head to competiting services with their content, cash and grumbling voice.
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It?s true that we?ve been enduring the ups and downs of the Xdrive.com service for a while but we who believe in the product, the features, and the people who built the product and service now and since it?s inception are feeling sad today with the announcement of the ?Sunsetting? of the Xdrive.com service. Sorry to see you go old friend and we will miss you.
Maybe we will see AOL look to sell off this portion of their portfolio. Xdrive.com has survived many pit falls in the Online Storage industry however Xdrive.com always rose from the ashes each time too. The Thunderbird of Online Storage Xdrive.com; viva la Xdrive.com. We will see Xdrive.com again I?m sure of it and I want to be there.
Via condeous Xdrive.com??
-XDMOlson