Come February 1st, another online service will shutter as Sony closes down its online photo storage service – ImageStation. ImageStation users (including this writer) have been receiving emails since September, reminding them to login and retrieve whatever image data still stored there.

The official announcement was made in September last year with Sony justifying the service’s closure thus: "Sony Electronics has decided to close ImageStation, its photo sharing service, in order to focus on the company’s core businesses, products, and services." Sony has also included a link to its comprehensive FAQ on the closure at http://www.imagestation.com/closingfaq

When ImageStation started, it was a revolution in its featureset. Not only did it offer free storage but also tiered user plans as well as the option to order prints. But as other photo-sharing sites emerged, ImageStation found itself floundering as the newer sites built on ImageStation’s example but innovated as well as proved more far-reaching. With free services such as Flickr abounding, offering better website and blog integration, ImageStation soon found itself falling by the wayside.

Sony had a great idea in the first place with ImageStation but where it failed was in the idea’s evolution. They had the ball – but others ran with it. The lesson here is that you can’t just implement a great idea and leave it at that. One of the greatest challenges of online services is making them profitable. It’s easy enough to launch a website but making it pay for itself is something that needs more than just a talent for technology. The Web may have changed how we do things but some things, like solid business acumen, will never become redundant. R.I.P, ImageStation.

Related:

Entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 1:13 am under Uncategorized.

Read more entries by Erna Mahyuni.
Stumble It!