I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly) that Posterous shuts down their blog system within a year.
That's the context I'm referring to (acquire -> integrate engineering talent -> shut down original product). When that happens, it's the users who get the short end of the stick (VCs may lose $ or break even, but that's an expectation in their world).
Software–however niche, crappy, or "beta"–gets used for a lot longer than developers realize. Somewhere out there, a secretary is using a Word macro that's older than my teenage daughter and she'll stab you with her letter opener you if you try and take it away. But, in a Web-app/SaaS world, we developers can shut things down with a simple keystroke. That doesn't mean it has no consequences.
That's the context I'm referring to (acquire -> integrate engineering talent -> shut down original product). When that happens, it's the users who get the short end of the stick (VCs may lose $ or break even, but that's an expectation in their world).
Software–however niche, crappy, or "beta"–gets used for a lot longer than developers realize. Somewhere out there, a secretary is using a Word macro that's older than my teenage daughter and she'll stab you with her letter opener you if you try and take it away. But, in a Web-app/SaaS world, we developers can shut things down with a simple keystroke. That doesn't mean it has no consequences.