Everpix and Everyone

Khoi Vinh:

First, it’s incredibly hard to build a service that unseats an incumbent as entrenched as the iPhone’s Photos app. That is essentially what Everpix was doing with its own iOS app, which looked very much like a photo browser. Worse, what Everpix was actually competing on was superior cloud storage, putting it in the same game as iCloud, which of course is also free. So it was never immediately apparent to the average consumer why one would need Everpix if one had the Photos app and iCloud. Never mind that Everpix offered a stark advantage by backing up every photo you have while iCloud only backs up the last month or so; the distinction between the two services was fuzzy for those who barely understand cloud computing to begin with. (As an aside, I personally found iCloud and Everpix to be highly complementary, but then again I think a lot about having redundant backups.)

I hate to say this, because it’s glib and ignores numerous complexities that would ensue, but: I wish Apple had acquired Everpix.

Update: One of the glib things a simple “I wish Apple had bought them” statement glosses over is that I have zero idea whatsoever whether Everpix, which worked great for me — a terrific, reliable, fast service and great apps — would work just as well, or even at all, going from tens of thousands of users to tens of millions. Could be that Apple took a look at Everpix and deemed it unfeasible for the massive scale they would need.

Another possibility is that Apple’s executives don’t see the need for something like Everpix as a part of iCloud. That’s almost outlandish though. The utility of having your entire photo library in the cloud is so obvious, and so perfectly aligned with the entire stated purpose of iCloud, that it’s unimaginable that Apple’s leadership doesn’t see it. My hope is that it’s something Apple has a team hard at work on, and simply as yet unfinished.

★ Thursday, 7 November 2013