The downside of free services

I cranked up my Xbox Fitness app this morning to get in a quick workout before the day started and was faced with the above message. In short, it basically says that they are ending the service the first of next month. Bummer.

I get it. I don’t see a lot of people using the service. These things have to make money — or at the very least, pay for themselves. This just reminded me of how fleeting some free service actually can be and how important it is to make good guesses as to which ones will be around down the road.

As someone who spends a lot of time on the “bleeding edge” of technology, I encounter just about everything out there. It is my job to stay on top of trends, outlets, services and offerings that could be of benefit to businesses. By doing this, I can help your company take advantage of and position yourself to be ahead of the curve.

I cannot count however, how many services that looked promising and are no longer with us. Most of the time, there is a nice warning (like the one from Microsoft) but sometimes you just discover it gone. I can’t tell you how many times I have lost uploaded audio, video, photos etc. sent to reside on the “next big thing.”

As usual, I will stay out there — investigating, dipping my toe in the water, interacting with, supporting and hopefully not losing that time investment when they go belly-up.

What service did you previously use that left you high and dry?

by Chris Doelle

Originally published at Riding with the window down….