Blogger and photographer Thomas Hawk posted recently contended that Google + would soon provide the opportunity for Google to overtake Flickr as the digital photography destination of choice. Hawk provides two contrasting galleries of his own pictures in support of his claim.
I do like Google’s Picasa and I do understand that Google seems to be consolidating services (perhaps Picasa with the photo service in Google +, hangout and the videoconferencing feature of chat) and focusing its offerings elsewhere. I still prefer Flickr to the Google services. The “does not count against space allocation” feature of Google + photos gives me trouble. I don’t like a service that has a built in crop feature that messes with my images. I will still pay $25 a year to store my photos in the form factor I prefer.
Hawk does make some other points I consider more damaging. He claims Google is now “interested” in photo storage and sharing and is making constant upgrades. He claims Flickr has offered little new since 2004. I cannot evaluate these claims, but, if true, innovation is certainly a factor in maintaining user interest. I think Google + is focused (get it, a photography pun) on digital images because uploads from phones are so popular for Facebook users and Google wants to compete in the social networking space. Flickr may have little to do with the commitment to images.
I hope Flickr holds on – Yahoo! based or otherwise. Multiple players are important in the online innovation process. I would rather see this as Flickr and Google + Photo than as Google + photo and Facebook.
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