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Jefe's winter of discontent

jefe_4x4
Explorer
Explorer
The last time you heard from me was the end of last June when PhotoBucket thought of the unthinkable: They upped the 3rd party hosting from free to $299 a year in one, stupid, felled swoop. Well, most of us didn't go for that, but I'm thinking it was a ploy. Faux-toe Buck drew me back into the fold with their new $99 per year plan for forum posters; which doesn't apply to people with a profit motive. So, I bit, and will see if the pix come to pass on here; right now.the weird part was none of my posted pics came up with Pho-Buc's notice to pay up instead of a pic, and all were 3rd party hosted. It may be that my P-B site with my myriad hobbies has had over 700K hits; and I only used 25% of the capacity for the free storage. The puny snow @ Lake Tahoe 10 days ago:






Compare that with the winter of 2010:




There is not much to record on the TC front. A year ago, I got the Dodge/Lance lashup just the way I wanted it. In planning some extended tours, I had to deal with Jeanie's reluctance to drive the 6 speed manual any more. She has had a series of slicker and slicker Jeep Grand Cherokees that do everything but brush your teeth for you.
The first part of fall and winter on the West Slope, Northern Sierra Nevada has been dry and unseasonably warm. That's why all you in the central and eastern part of the U.S. have taken the cold and snowy brunt. That big, fat, persistent Eastern Pacific High bounced all the fronts up and over coming down on your heads. With other fish to fry, I contented myself with backing the TC out of it's shed into the sun where the solar panels would keep the batteries up, and then putting it back to bed when any piddly precip was on the horizon. Today, all that changed. We had a foot of snow and it looks like many more days of snow here @ 4K feet. I ran the snow blowers around cleaning up the lane to Hwy. 20, and especially the burm left by the CalTrans snow plows.








Here's a pic from 2008, when we were last @ Anza. This is near Dos Cabezas:




And the Pinion Mt. Jeep trail that same year:




An upcoming trip with my Bro John will be 10 days in Anza Borrego State Park in So. CA before and after Easter. We'll be taking pressure down for a week, doing all the jeep trails except the big drop off on the Pinion Mountain trail in the off-road equipped truck campers. We'll be taking our pop-up outdoor shower enclosure: kind of a tall, narrow Bedouin looking tent with no floor and a flap to bring in the outdoor shower wand.
So, lehmee noh if these pix actually open for you.
jefe, getting toward the end of my winter of discontent.
'01.5 Dodge 2500 4x4, CTD, Qcab, SB, NV5600, 241HD, 4.10's, Dana 70/TruTrac; Dana 80/ TruTrac, Spintec hub conversion, H.D. susp, 315/75R16's on 7.5" and 10" wide steel wheels, Vulcan big line, Warn M15K winch '98 Lance Lite 165s, 8' 6" X-cab, 200w Solar
20 REPLIES 20

2oldman
Explorer II
Explorer II
mkirsch wrote:
People gotta figure by now that any "free" service is an unsustainable business model. The writing was on the wall from day one. Yet, you still get upset when the inevitable happens.Nothing in life is free. There is no free lunch.
You pay no money and you *really* take your chances.
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman

GpnAZ
Explorer
Explorer
Hi Jeff - Enjoyed your pics, good to see you on the forum, I can surely understand your frustration with PB! Glad to see some snow in your area, it will help this summer for sure. Sounds like a great trip for Easter with your brother, we're headed to Moab with our Jeep for the Easter Jeep Safari. Take care and say hi to Jeannie for me!
2018' RAM 3500 Laramie CC, DRW, 4X4, Cummins w/ Aisin transmission
2019' Host Mammoth, 480 watts of solar
2017' Jeep JKU Rubicon
2011' Airstream Avenue
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gpnusa
www.flickr.com/photos/gpnaz
www.flickr.com/photos/his_cross

time2roll
Nomad
Nomad
PB should have sent an email warning in advance.
Even $99/yr is too much just for fun.
PB is now on my list for never again.

Nice pictures though jefe.

jimh406
Explorer III
Explorer III
If PB had done some research they would have started with a minimal cost. Most of us would have donated, I think.

'10 Ford F-450, 6.4, 4.30, 4x4, 14,500 GVWR, '06 Host Rainer 950 DS, Torklift Talon tiedowns, Glow Steps, and Fastguns. Bilstein 4600s, Firestone Bags, Toyo M655 Gs, Curt front hitch, Energy Suspension bump stops.

NRA Life Member, CCA Life Member

Photomike
Explorer III
Explorer III
I understand why people are mad at PB, they were giving people something for free (yes they had ads but looking at an ad only costs you time not money unless you buy) then after PB found out that their costs were going nuts for what they had to pay for bandwidth and storage they needed to do something.

Now what they did and how they did it was going to the extreme but that is like so many other businesses and governments. A great example was years ago a local government was giving free permits for different things like building & development then they found out it was costing them money so they all of a sudden started charging $100 - $500 per permit.... the costs that they found per permit was $10 - $20 so why the hike so high because they could.

Another one was there was a region that was allowing free camping on government land, People loved it!!! Then the government figured that it was costing them to patrol it so all of a sudden it cost $50 per permit to camp and X $ per night, it was all of a sudden cheaper to camp in a campground with full hook-ups then in the bush.

PB should have found a way to incorporate ads in the images so when you looked at an image on a forum a small ad came up, that would have given them income to offset the bandwidth costs. Or offer a free plan with ads then a paid plan with no ads or smaller ads. They will change their name and prices in a year or two and people will start using them again.
2017 Ford Transit
EVO Electric bike
Advanced Elements Kayaks

DiskDoctr
Explorer
Explorer
gemsworld wrote:
Time will tell if its business decision was good for the company.


True. However, a golden rule in business is "thou shalt not psisoff thy customers"

Hated companies like Comcast are so big they can get away with it, but others, can't

I also have never used PB, just my own paid host.

Jefe, GREAT PICS!!! Thanks for sharing with us ๐Ÿ™‚

Community Alumni
Not applicable
ScottG wrote:
mkirsch wrote:
People gotta figure by now that any "free" service is an unsustainable business model. The writing was on the wall from day one. Yet, you still get upset when the inevitable happens.

Nothing in life is free. There is no free lunch.


PB was never "free". Like most other sites, they bombarded you with advertisements. That's how legitimate "free" sites make their money. It's a sound business model. Just look at Youtube.


Exactly! Some things change over time, and Photo Bucket changed over time. Time will tell if its business decision was good for the company.

I still have no problems posting pics for free using another free source, and I do it regularly.

ScottG
Nomad
Nomad
mkirsch wrote:
People gotta figure by now that any "free" service is an unsustainable business model. The writing was on the wall from day one. Yet, you still get upset when the inevitable happens.

Nothing in life is free. There is no free lunch.


PB was never "free". Like most other sites, they bombarded you with advertisements. That's how legitimate "free" sites make their money. It's a sound business model. Just look at Youtube.

mkirsch
Nomad II
Nomad II
People gotta figure by now that any "free" service is an unsustainable business model. The writing was on the wall from day one. Yet, you still get upset when the inevitable happens.

Nothing in life is free. There is no free lunch.

Putting 10-ply tires on half ton trucks since aught-four.

wnjj
Explorer II
Explorer II
gemsworld wrote:
jimh425 wrote:
Nice tractor. I'm not willing to pay PB. There are other places to get storage for less. I'd rather use a thousand words.


Or for free.


Look what free got all those PB users...broken forum posts. You get what you pay for it and Iโ€™m assuming jefe just wanted his countless posts to have their pictures back.

I gave up โ€œinvestingโ€ anything in free sites long ago after getting bit by Bigfoot.comโ€™s โ€œfreeโ€ email forwarding...until it wasnโ€™t.

Iโ€™ve never used PB. The few pictures I post are hosted at my ISP, which I pay for.

Jefe, thanks for taking the plunge. I look forward to more of your pics.

Reddog1
Explorer II
Explorer II
I had problems seeing the photos, but only due to their size. As a Moderator, I can and did adjust the photo size. As for PB, I have no kind words for how they changed their business model. To be fair, if a given website is not willing to host the photos used on their site, then I am hesitant to post photos on that site. It is obvious to me they do not see any value in photos.

Wayne
Moderator


2004.5 Ram SLT LB 3500 DRW Quad Cab 4x4
1988 Bigfoot (C11.5) TC (1900# w/standard equip. per decal), 130 watts solar, 100 AH AGM, Polar Cub A/C, EU2000i Honda

Toad: 91 Zuke

AnEv942
Nomad
Nomad
Yep all the pictures show
Huh- I noticed the PB upgrade picture changed but hadnt seen (looked) they were actually offering a different plan. Still 3 times what it should be but $300 less than the 'hostage fee' they were asking. If they had done this from the get go...
I'm suprised the work arounds still funtion- otherwise resurrecting old threads not any options.
Went to one of your trip reports from '08 and all the pictures show!
01 Ford F250 4x4 DRW Diesel, 01 Elkhorn 9U
Our camper projects page http://www.ourelkhorn.itgo.com

Ductape
Explorer
Explorer
Nice pics!

PhotoBucket pulled that stunt right after I posted a bunch of photos to other forums... I wouldn't pay them 99 cents a year after that experience. JMO.
49 States, 6 Provinces, 2 Territories...

aidwilli
Explorer
Explorer
Nice pics.

For those of you trying to see others' pictures in forums that are blocked by PB - there is a work around.

If you are on firefox: firefox addon

If you are on chrome: chrome addon

Usually the blocked thumbnail appears and then after the page finishes loading the pics will load.

Sorry to go off topic
1996 F350 DRW 4x2 CCLB 7.3l 5spd Power Stroke Diesel
Air Lift air bags, 2x swaybars, 4x rancho 9000, happijac tie downs
1999 Lance 1130 Rebuilt 2018 w/ 500W solar