The tragedy of The Commons
When Flickr announced The Commons at the start of this year, I made no secret of my enthusiasm for the project. Since then it has gone from strength to strength with more and more institutions adding their collections; the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and many more. That growth has largely been as a result of the tireless work of George Oates.
George has been fired. It beggars belief—it certainly beggars mine.
The Commons is not just one of the finest achievements on Flickr, it’s a shining example of just how great the web can be. If the project dies because of the idiotic actions of some short-sighted bean counters at Yahoo, it will be a great loss for you, me and our culture.
My trust in Flickr has been shaken. I’m beginning to think that entrusting Flickr with my photos, my data and my memories might prove to be an ill-judged decision.
Illustrations
Thanks to the magic of machine tags, you can illustrate this post by tagging a picture on Flickr with:
Related
Links
Find links I've tagged with flickr, etc.
Photos
Find photos I've tagged with flickr, etc. on Flickr.
Find photos that I took on December 16th, 2008.
