I’ve joined Flickr in 2008, and until today I’ve not paid a cent for their service.

For me Flickr was always about the pictures I want to keep forever, and it’s been working just fine for the last 15 years.

I have tried other options:

  • iCloud Photos
  • Dropbox
  • pen-drives
  • self-hosted Piwigo.
  • Instagram

With Piwigo it’s too much maintanence, with Apple Photos I have 3 separate libraries, Dropbox was never a good option for photos, and Instagram is just a different beast.

All of the above will not replace Flickr for me. Each of them has its own problems and does not provide the same value as Flickr.

The main feature I use in Flickr is albums. Some albums are better curated than others, but all of them just passively stored there. That’s all I want.

The second feature is discovery and friends. Most of the people I know are no longer uploading, but we had a good time. I’m still finding a lot of inspiration, and I believe Flickr will have its rebirth when people get sick of Instagram.

Technologicaly Flickr has always been weird. Starting with Yahoo login, iOS app, and old-fashion message board FlickrMail. Anyway, it’s still better than new decentralised photo sharing options, which for now I’ll not trust with my family photos.

So, I’ll pay for the pro, I only wish that Flickr will finds its way and I can keep using for another 15 years.

Also,
for me Flickr has a spirit, and I like the logo.