Although it has been long expected that Flickr users would need to switch permanently to a Yahoo ID to use the service, the fast-approaching deadline has Flickrphiles furious and competitors gleefully offering enticements for them to switch. Beware the Ides of March, Flickr users. The old Flickr sign in system will be sent off to the Great 404 in the Sky; to keep using Flickr means switching over to a Yahoo Account, and giving up the personal information required for that. Commentary on Flickr's forum has been less than enthusiastic about the long-anticipated changeover. Here's a sample of those feelings:
My gender? what business in hell is it of yahoo's whether I'm male, female or something else entirely?! not that I'm offered that last option in the form Yuck. I hate my yahoo signin name. I really hate the inelegant design of the Yahoo sign-in page. And I hate having to keep another login name in my head. I didn't like it that yahoo bought flickr but I was fine with it as long as they didn't mess with it. Well, now they have.More prominent users have noted how the other announcement by Flickr, a limitation on the number of contacts, impacted the real active Flickr users. Thomas Hawk (CEO of Flickr competitor Zoomr) Another Flickr competitor, SmugMug, moved to capitalize on the unpopularity of the move. SmugMug CEO Don MacAskill promptly made an offer to those users to Walt Mossberg thinks SmugMug is elegant. Maybe over the next few weeks MacAskill and company will be "really busy with new users" as well. Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Bookmark murdok: David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
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