Yes, there is a downside to all this [tag]Web 2.0[/tag] goodness. First off, was it just me or was [tag]GMail[/tag] unavailable for most of the day today? This comes as I find myself relying on GMail for more and more for my primary email usage. Frustrating… More frustrating than all the spam I’m suddenly seeing in my [tag]Sevenapril[/tag] account.

Secondly, [tag]30Boxes[/tag] is completely offline. This too after I have started to use it for more than just tracking work stuff. I’m onto my second account after the first one got killed by an ugly import bug…

It’s all good having your stuff online; no matter where you go as long as you have a connection your stuff is there waiting for you. The obvious downside is that someone else is holding your data. If they decide to pull the plug you’re done. I’m not sure that this is the case with 30Boxes but it’s cause for concern.

No one seems to think that we are in another web [tag]bubble[/tag] but I have to wonder. [tag]Yahoo[/tag] is apparently questioning their purchase of [tag]Flickr[/tag]. It’s expensive as hell to run and provides very little oppourtunity to generate revenue from it. I don’t have a Pro account and I sure as hell won’t be ordering any prints. Seems like many are of the same mind.

What is the point of all this blathering? Just a reminder that things are looking a little 2000ish to me. I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised to see the lights go out on some of these free, [tag]beta[/tag] services. Seek out the Export feature of your favourite [tag]web service[/tag], back up your GMail to Thunderbird. Sometimes it’s good to remember that you get what you pay for…

Update: I just came across this article on Blogcritics which appears to agree with me :) Even Caterina Fake concurs but she’s already her money, so I doubt she cares very much…