"Hybrid" Video Transcoding -- Best of Both Worlds (Cloud & On Premise Solutions)

In a recent guest post on Streaming Media I wrote at length about the promise and power of Cloud video transcoding. Obviously, the topic is of great interest to many -- surprisingly perhaps (certainly surprised me) my posts are still the #2 and #3 organic search results when you google "enterprise encoding."

But, despite the many inherent advantages of encoding in the Cloud, many enterprises still aren't quite ready to fully embrace it. Many enterprises have, for example, already made significant investments in hardware and other infrastructure (CAPEX) and are reluctant to cast it aside.

The good news is that now they don't need to.

Welcome to the hybrid model for enterprise transcoding. Despite what others may have you believe, the choice is not "either/or" Cloud vis-a-vis on premise solutions. The beautiful thing is that now -- for the first time -- you can have both. The best of both worlds.

Today we officially announce new Squeeze On Premise enterprise transcoding -- which complements our Cloud-based transcoding solutions (Squeeze Managed Server and enterprise-grade Squeeze Solution Pack). Read the full press release by clicking on this link. Now, the enterprise can utilize the transcoding capacity of its already-purchased fixed servers -- BUT, can free itself from the burden of acquiring additional hardware and capacity to handle "spikey" transcoding demand (which is frequently the case). Now, the enterprise can utilize the Cloud efficiently -- and much more cost-effectively -- to handle excess spikey capacity scenarios, thereby giving the enterprise unprecedented flexibility. In this way, the enterprise also gets a taste of the power of the Cloud -- and perhaps can begin to ween itself off of the never-ending treadmill of purchasing significant new hardware over and over again as it becomes obsolete. This is a great emancipating development for you, the enterprise, but is unwelcome news to the old-guard big box hardware transcoding standard bearers who have built their business models on the never ending treadmill of repeat expensive box purchases.

I am pleased to announce that, once again, Sorenson Media is leading the way in innovation with the availability of this new Hybrid Solution. No one else offers anything like it -- and, of course, all of our solutions feature our proprietary award-winning Squeeze encoding engine that produces the highest quality and most versatile video to reach any device and platform, under any conditions.

Make no mistake -- our enterprise solutions -- which now include "Squeeze On Premise" (which enables Hybrid deployments) -- represent a full frontal assault against old world legacy big box hardware transcoding solutions that frequently cost tens of thousands of dollar right out of the gate (plus ongoing OPEX, maintenance, headaches ... and neverending purchases). The cost of our enterprise solutions -- whether on premise or in the Cloud -- are a fraction of the cost.

This is the brave new world of enterprise transcoding. Full press release here.

Google Changes Its Search Recipe -- How Does This Impact You?

Yesterday, Google implemented significant "tweaks" to its search algorithm in an attempt to fight "content farms", spammers, scrapers, etc. Accordingly, your company-related search results -- both organic and paid -- may be different now than they were previously. Early this morning, I spent considerable time Googling terms related to our video encoding market -- "encoding", "transcoding", "enterprise encoding", "enterprise transcoding", "video encoding", "video transcoding". And, the results were fascinating (although not entirely satisfying on many occasions).

As just one example, when I googled "enterprise encoding", my recent blog post on Cloud transcoding organically appeared as the #2 result on page 1 (and on several pages thereafter). But, despite my company's place in the encoding/transcoding industry, neither Sorenson Media -- nor any of our encoding/transcoding solutions (except for our new "Squeeze Live" solution) -- appeared anywhere in the first 10 pages (either organically or via paid ads)!

You can bet I will be speaking with my marketing team about that! (And, you may be having a similar conversation with your marketing teams later today after you do some probing of your own.)

Fliqz Investors Hit By a VBrick -- How Much Did VBrick Really Pay?

Not surprisingly, the tidal wave of industry consolidation in the online video platform (OVP) market continues as VBrick Systems has acquired long-time OVP Fliqz. As I recently wrote, the pure-play (i.e., non-diversified) OVP space has narrowed to essentially three relevant players over the past year -- Brightcove, Ooyala, and Kaltura. And, faced with this reality, Fliqz didn't stand a chance to thrive alone and had largely fallen silent amid the din of those extremely well-financed players. I simply saw no announcements by Fliqz over the past 12 months, which is not a great indicator of business success (the company's last press release before the acquisition announcement was in mid-March 2010). For this reason, the VBrick acquisition is likely the best possible result for Fliqz in the current extremely challenging pure-play OVP environment where it was difficult for Fliqz to differentiate itself. VBrick, meanwhile, will diversify its business to swim downstream and dive into the SMB (small-to-medium business) market.

But, how much did VBrick pay for Fliqz? Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but respected industry expert Dan Rayburn of Streaming Media puts the number at "well less than $20 million" based on annual revenues reported to be $5 million. TechCrunch reported on the deal, but didn't even hazard a guess. And, another one of the most respected online video experts, Jim O'Neill of FierceOnlineVideo, didn't report on the deal's price tag, but wrote that VBrick CEO Doug Howard indicated that Fliqz's revenues will be "less than $5 million" this year.

What do I think? Based on reading the tea leaves and knowing a bit about the industry and Fliqz's silenced role within it over the past year, my gut tells me that Fliqz's annual revenues this year would have been significantly less than $5 million (not just the "less than $5 million" indicated by VBrick's CEO). And, my gut further tells me that, for these reasons -- and because the VC market is not kind amid these pure-play OVP market realities (meaning that market factors favored the buyer here, not the seller) -- VBrick likely acquired Fliqz for less than $10 million (not just the "well less than $20 million" number used by Rayburn). And, if that is the case, Fliqz' investors likely took a loss, since they are reported to have pumped in over $12 million over time. But, faced with the choice of either selling now or pumping more money into a pure-play OVP business that likely was not profitable -- which should not be surprising when even the big boy pure-play OVPs still likely are not long-term profitable -- the investors' choice was smart, very smart.

$1 Billion -- The New "Magic Number" for Online Music Sub Services

Is the online music subscription business getting "frothy"? Is it deja vu all over again for investors? You be the judge.

Just a few days back, online music subscription service Pandora -- which has massive distribution but ZERO (0) profits -- filed to raise $100 million in an IPO which is expected to value the company at nearly $1 billion. And, now Spotify -- the European music subscription service that has tried (but failed) to set foot into the U.S. market for seemingly years now -- is said to be closing a $100 million round of financing that values the company at the same magic number of $1 billion. I am quite sure that Spotify is similarly profit-challenged.

So, what gives? Well, Pandora has always been a tech darling. And, the service IS everywhere. I am a fan -- and one of the few paying subscribers (at $36/year). But, ubiquity does not necessarily translate into a long-term and highly profitable business model. Similarly, Spotify has always been a Euro tech darling. But, I have never understood what makes it so special. Let's face it -- there are a lot of online music subscription services out there -- especially in the U.S. Rhapsody, Napster, Slacker ... just to name a few. What does Spotify got that they don't? Certainly not catalog. Spotify has been unable to ink the requisite label deals in the U.S., despite a steady drumbeat of announcements over the past few years saying "we are almost there!" Yeah right -- I'll believe it when I see it.

Oh yes, and there is one more slight problem. Apple just announced a major change in overall economics for subscription services distributed via Apple's App Store. Whereas subscription services used to keep it all, now Apple plans to take a major cut of all subscription revenues (30% to be exact). This move is ultra-significant for the overall business models for services like Pandora and Spotify, because so much of their distribution comes from the App Store and mobile streaming. And, add this 30% cut on top of the music labels' and related "cuts" (which can stretch beyond 70% of revenues just by themselves!) and, voila, you don't have much left to build your business. Already thin margins are now paper thin. Was this all considered when Pandora filed its IPO and when Spotify's investors were finalizing their paperwork? Doubtful -- Apple's recent body blow is still hot off the presses.

To be clear, I am a big believer in the power of music subscription services. I subscribe to both Pandora and Rhapsody.

But, would I invest in them?

Not a chance ... and certainly not at a $1 billion valuation.

Where Have All the OVPs Gone, Long Time Passing ...

Online video platforms (OVPs) -- stand-alone SaaS-based hosted services targeting businesses that want to deliver video content to connected and mobile devices.

A little over one year ago -- at the San Jose, California Streaming Media West show in November 2009 -- the exhibition floor was littered with them. Seemingly scores of them. At that time, many of us suspected that, although the demand for video delivery would only accelerate on a massive scale, most of these VC-backed OVPs simply wouldn't make it. There simply was something in the air -- namely, dwindling cash in the bank. Many of these OVPs were running on fumes; no real revenues.

Fast forward to now, and that reality has hit home in a big big way. In a case a la "And Then There Were None" (although not as drastic as the Agatha Christie novel), the stand-alone business-focused OVP market has really come down to three players: (1) Brightcove (the granddaddy of them all -- and still the largest in terms of overall reach), (2) Ooyala (the Silicon Valley upstart darling that challenges Brightcove at every turn), and (3) Kaltura (the open-source focused contender that talks a good game). Heaps of cash have been poured into all 3 of these players -- $100 million into Brightcove, $50 million into Ooyala (including a recent $22 million round), and $20 more million just pumped into Kaltura (adding to its previous raises). These three stand-alone OVPs are in a massive land grab right now -- investing these hoards of cash to stake their claims.

Let's face it -- it is difficult for other stand-alone OVPs to compete with that kind of cash -- which buys you lots of sales people, lots of marketing, and lots of PR. That's why virtually no other stand-alone OVP rises above this din anymore. They simply aren't relevant. Previously, those others could make some noise. But, those voices have been largely squelched by market realities -- their VCs have seen the light; game over. I simply don't hear about them anymore.

In the immortal words of Pete Seeger (or close to them at least), "Where Have All the OVPs Gone ...?" Answer? Simply "Gone Baby Gone" (a great movie by the way -- check it out on Netflix.)

(IMPORTANT NOTE -- there are other relevant players in the market that operate OVP services; but these are not stand-alone OVPs where OVP services are essentially the only product line and revenue source. As an example, my company, Sorenson Media, operates its own highly successful managed video hosting and delivery solution -- Sorenson 360 -- but that is only one component of our overall enterprise-focused video solutions and overall business model; I recently wrote about who we are as a company -- and video encoding/transcoding is at our core. KIT Digital is another company that is relevant in this context, but KIT Digital is the industry's Pac Man, gobbling up a myriad of companies on the cheap and operating a growing number of services; the company just recently swallowed up 3 more companies. We, at Sorenson Media, don't consider stand-alone OVPs like Brightcove, Ooyala or Kaltura to be competitors -- in fact, we seem them as being potential partners. And, in my view, the jury is still out whether stand-alone OVPs like the "big 3" -- which essentially have a single-pronged business model -- can reach long-term profitability without diversifying; and, if they can't, it certainly is a stretch to believe any other stand-alone OVP [which is an animal near extinction] ever can. Brightcove, Ooyala and Kaltura have boatloads of cash, though, to try to figure it all out.)

Greetings From Mobile World Congress -- All Video, All the Time

Mobile World Congress -- the largest single annual mobile-focused confab in the world -- is currently on in Barcelona, Spain (one of my favorite cities in the world, by the way). And, the big story is video everywhere, anytime, on any device -- especially your third screen that you carry with you at all times. Gigaom calls "the overwhelming onslaught of video" one of the 5 Trends to Watch at the event.

(By the way, in case you were wondering what the word "confab" means -- because I was -- click here for the definition; it means "informal discussions" and is often used as a noun in discussions of conferences. Now, if that isn't fascinating, I don't know what is ....)

Introducing "Squeeze Live" -- The First LIVE Event Transcoding Solution in the Cloud

As I recently wrote, my company, Sorenson Media, is squarely enterprise-driven and focused. We are a video solutions company that harnesses the power of our own award-winning components, together with best-of-breed partner technology, to solve the non-"cookie cutter" needs of the enterprise. Until now, we were purely file-based -- offering innovative VOD transcoding solutions.

That has now all changed.

By popular demand (i.e., our enterprise customers increasingly asked for it) today we introduce "Squeeze Live" which is, as far as we know, the FIRST fully Cloud-based live event transcoding solution (click here to read more about the Squeeze Live solution). This is a big deal -- a very big deal. In conjunction with this major announcement (which we made from Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress), we announce our new partnership with Kulabyte, another true innovator in the mobile and Internet video world, with whom we collaborated to make this all possible.

New Squeeze Live gives the enterprise an entirely new way to broadcast and stream major live events (think sporting events, news) in real-time, with high quality, across all network bandwidth conditions to the ever-increasing number of mobile and connected devices (iPads, iPhones, Droid phones, tablets, etc.) -- from the Cloud. That means lower cost, much greater flexibility and simplicity, and significantly fewer logistical nightmares for the enterprise.

Click here to read our press release that explains the benefits to enterprise customers in much greater detail (and also how we do it together with our new partner, Kulabyte, with whom we are very pleased to be in business and innovate).

We Are Spanning the Globe This Week -- Meet Us Everywhere

Sorenson Media spans the globe this week -- bodies are on airplanes everywhere as I write this. We are holding meetings at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. We are holding meetings at the Broadcast Video Expo in London, England. And, we are holding meetings at the Hollywood Post Alliance Tech Retreat in Rancho Mirage, California (okay, we aren't flying to that one).

Why? Because we have major partnership meetings; we have major new solution announcements to unveil (in a matter of hours); and we will demo those new solutions at all events.

Stay tuned -- and, if you are interested in meeting or learning more, reach out to me at bizdev@sorensonmedia.com

Cisco's Pocket Cam Management Team Flipped Out

Cisco reports that the boss of its Flip pocket-cam unit, Jonathan Kaplan, is leaving the company effective immediately. And Michael Wolf of Gigaom questions whether Cisco's $590 million acquisition of Pure Digital (the company behind the Flip cam) has been a flop.

Here's the thing. The Flip pocket video cam was a game changer when it was first introduced a few years back. While all other video cam manufacturers kept making their devices more and more complex by packing additional functionality, Flip did the opposite -- it stripped down the device, made it drop-dead easy to use, offered high quality video capture, and bundled a companion FlipShare video management and sharing service a la Apple that gave customers an immediately compelling out-of-box experience.

But, Flip is and always has been a single purpose device for video capture. And, no matter how good it was (and is), I always felt -- from the beginning (see my earlier post on the subject) -- that life would pass it by with the onslaught of the all-purpose smart phone (such as the iPhone) where high def video capture is just one more functionality. Flip users must carry two devices at all times -- their Flip and their phone. Apple iPhone users only one. There's the rub!

Does that mean the Flip is dead? Not at all. But, the road ahead is challenging. Flip needs to demonstrate that its overall experience is second to none -- quality, functionality, bundled FlipShare service. And, it needs to foster its rabid community of users who swear by the device. At this point, those messages have been drowned out by all the smart phone noise around it.

Sorenson Media -- Who We Are -- Our Mission Statement

Entrepreneurs commonly are asked to give their mission statement -- i.e., their clear and concise (hopefully!) one sentence statement of their company's focus and overall unique value proposition.

So here's ours at Sorenson Media -- "Sorenson Media is a provider of highest quality differentiated video encoding solutions."

To be clear, my team and I have chosen each of those words in bold above very very carefully. Each holds special meaning to us -- specifically:

(1) note that we use the word "solutions" rather than "products"; this may surprise some who best know us for our award-winning desktop video encoding application "Sorenson Squeeze". But, we don't see ourselves as being a product company at all (even though we do continue to focus on developing the highest quality desktop professional video application -- and Squeeze 7 was just recently released to high praise); we are a video-focused solutions company; think of us as a video-focused Accenture; enterprise customers come to us with real significant and challenging problems; we are consultative in our approach; we listen; we hear; we propose a solution to meet those needs; we build it; and we manage and service it; THAT is who we are; enterprise customers come to us primarily for our expertise built up over 15 years time; they believe that we can do things no other company can do; we believe they are right; we passionately believe they are right;

(2) this following statement may surprise many of you who still predominantly think of us as being a desktop video applications company -- our company is squarely enterprise-focused and always has been. We provide solutions for the enterprise. This is consistent with our roots as a company that go back over 15 years to 1995. We began as an enterprise-focused codec development and licensing company and licensed our innovative technology to Apple (to enable video playback in QuickTime), to Macromedia/Adobe (to enable video playback in Flash), and to YouTube (to encode all YouTube videos). We then leveraged our unique video compression expertise into developing Sorenson Squeeze desktop. Squeeze desktop has been used from the beginning by most, if not all, of the major media companies and significant numbers in the Fortune 500 (NBC Universal is just one example of a long-time Squeeze desktop customer). This does not mean that the individual videographer or small business is not important to us -- not at all. We then developed our Sorenson 360 online video platform component which is essential to our enterprise solutions (Shutterfly is a great example of one of our enterprise customers here). And, finally, our primary focus as a company are our enterprise solutions, including Sorenson Squeeze Server. Squeeze Server currently comes in two "flavors" -- (i) Squeeze Server managed solution -- a fully managed, hosted Cloud transcoding solution; and (ii) Squeeze Solution Pack -- a super-charged high volume, highly scalable enterprise-grade Cloud-based solution that incorporates fast uploads of large video files (via our partnership with Aspera) and full automated management of Cloud instances (via our partnership with RightScale). And, we soon will officially announce Sorenson Squeeze On Premise -- which gives enterprises the ability to place our Squeeze software on their own armor for high volume and highest quality transcoding. We also offer complete mobile application development and complete professional services -- expertise that is now mission critical to our enterprise customers (where nothing is cookie cutter).

We also have other major developments coming soon -- very soon -- in fact, likely next week. This too will be eye-opening -- and it also is squarely enterprise-focused -- and it is big, big news -- and a big, big development. For those who follow enterprise transcoding, stay tuned -- we look forward to speaking with you once the news breaks.

(3) speaking of solutions, note that we underscore our video encoding focus in our mission statement; in addition to our unique video expertise, video encoding/transcoding is our core competency; that is our "special sauce" that we believe no one can match and core to everything we do; encoding/transcoding is foundational -- and our expertise and proprietary IP in this regard is the product of over 15 years of focus; our core award-winning proprietary Squeeze encoding engine is the same across all of our solutions -- Squeeze Server (both in the Cloud and On Premise) and Squeeze Desktop. We believe that is powerful -- and something that open source FFmpeg-based encoding solutions can't match (both for quality and performance issues and for business issues -- including IP risk -- and these business and IP risks are real ... very real, as I have discussed at length previously);

(4) speaking of our core encoding/transcoding competency, the result is that we are widely known for enabling delivery of the highest quality video across any platform (mobile, desktop, living room) and any device. Our accolades for our quality are legend -- and we hold and savor them deeply. We sweat the details -- we wear those badges of honor proudly. Our customers trust us for our quality and expertise, and we hold that trust dearly. If nothing else, the "Sorenson Media" brand -- that is the product of over 15 years -- stands for quality. Quality in terms of enabling the highest quality video itself -- but also the highest quality of innovation and trust.

(5) finally, you will note the word "differentiated" in the mission statement above; that is no accident. We believe we are unique as a company because of all of the attributes I discuss above -- we believe we sit alone in the marketplace which has so many players. We uniquely have the broadest array of video transcoding solutions -- enterprise-focused Squeeze Server (both in the Cloud and On Premise), Squeeze Server Hybrid Cloud solutions (in fact, we are the only ones with Hybrid Cloud solutions), Squeeze Desktop, Sorenson 360 online video platform (which is another component that can be utilized in developing enterprise solutions); and, as indicated above, more innovative enterprise solutions are coming. We uniquely are fully API/component-driven, meaning we can develop virtually any customized enterprise solution with the "building blocks" we have developed over time. We uniquely have a brand built up over years that stands for quality and innovation. We uniquely have built a long-term profitable business that means that we are strong and stable -- which is a critical consideration for enterprise partners. We have been here for 15+ years -- and we will be here in the future. You are -- with attribution to AllState -- "in good hands" with us. We are "Swiss" -- meaning we are neutral and are not solely focused on utilizing only our technology as part of our solutions. We support the widest array of codecs (not just our own Sorenson Spark codec); we support all IaaS providers; we support all CDNs; we support all of the major flavors of adaptive bitrate technologies. Well, you get the point. And, we are firmly partner-driven both in terms of technology (utilizing industry-leading RightScale and Aspera technologies as indicated above, GPU acceleration via Nvidia, as just some examples) and in terms of distribution. As a solutions provider, we don't suffer from "not-invented-here" syndrome. In fact, we believe it is our mission to provide the best video solution utilizing all relevant "building blocks" -- our own APIs, as well as best-of-breed third party technology. After all, it is our overall expertise, partnership commitment, and results that our enterprise customers seek. We are relentlessly committed to giving them all of the above -- and have the track record to back it up. This does not mean we believe we are perfect. Far from that. But, we relentlessly try to be as perfect as possible for the benefit of our partners. And, if we make mistakes, then we own up to them -- and don't rest until we correct them.

Bottom line -- we eliminate the hard work and complexity associated with video encoding, transcoding, management and delivery. We sweat the details, so you don't have to -- that is, so that you can focus on your core business. Sure, you could attempt to build out a highly sophisticated farm of physical servers and try to stay abreast of the relentless march of new complexity being injected into the world of video. But, at the end of the day, why bother? That is costly, resource taxing and downright exhausting. Yes, this is what Netflix did -- but they did it because no one had developed cloud-based encoding to support massive scale at that time. But, things have now changed with our Cloud-based best-of-breed transcoding solutions. We can provide turn-key solutions to empower enterprises (no matter how large) with a massively scalable encoding environment that supports literally every flavor of video output to support the broadest range of devices/environments. And, to pique your interest, this is not just on the VOD side only ...

There it is -- although our mission statement is one sentence, it is jam-packed with meaning.

I hope this helps clarify who we are as a company -- and I am happy to discuss any of this with any of you at any time. Just reach out to me at bizdev@sorensonmedia.com -- and, keep following us. As indicated above, we have a parade of significant strategic announcements coming up starting next week.

These are exciting times!

A Vikings Fan's Dilemma ...

NOTE -- this post has nothing to do with digital media or technology. Indulge me on this one ...

I am a die-hard Minnesota Vikings fan -- always have been, always will be. I grew up there -- and I still say the long "O" (and otherwise resemble the good folksy folks from the land of the movie "Fargo"). Yes, the Vikes can't win the big games, but I have always loved the underdog. Not surprisingly, this year was tough.

Our arch-nemesis? The Green Bay Packers of course. There is no greater rivalry for us than the Cheese-heads of Wisconsin. And, for Brett to don purple was no less than an act of treason for the green. There also certainly was no love lost between Brett and Aaron Rogers (who, by the way, lives right here in sunny San Diego where many of us from the Midwest have escaped over the years).

So, what's a Vikes fan to do when the Packers play the Steelers in the Super Bowl?

As shocking as it sounds, I was for the Pack all the way. First, after years of being maligned, the NFC "Norris" Division finally shows its toughness and takes it all. I love to see that. Second, I like to see the NFC beat back the AFC. Third, the Steelers have won enough -- did they really need a 7th Super Bowl ring? Fourth, Big Ben -- need I say more? Fifth, Aaron Rogers lives in the 'hood -- so, great to see him represent! Finally, the Pack was 6th seed in the NFC playoffs -- yet they took it all (not surprisingly to me at all, after having watched them play all season long). That means that the Pack were true underdogs.

And, as I indicated above, I have always liked the underdog ...

Online Photo Site Flickr Deletes 5 Years of Memories -- Yes, It's True

Techcrunch today reports a story that should send shivers in all of us who entrust our most prized possessions -- our memories -- to an online service provider. Specifically, in a worst-case scenario, Yahoo!'s online photo sharing site Flickr just wiped out 5 years of photos (approximately 4,000) for one of its customers -- and apparently can't get them back. The cause? Human error -- the hapless victim apparently reported improper access to his Flickr account, and the Flickr folks deleted the wrong account.

Wow! Think about that. Gone. Poof. Nowhere to be found. I am really speechless about this one.

I have entrusted my own precious family and friend memories to an online sharing site -- Shutterfly -- for nearly a decade. I have thousands -- literally thousands -- of photos and now videos on that service. I completely trust Shutterfly. I absolutely know that they build redundancy upon redundancy (after all, Shutterfly is also a business partner of ours at Sorenson Media). There is no more secure site out there. And, I highly doubt that the Flickr "no backup" scenario could ever happen there.

But, can there ever be any absolute guarantees out there for any service provider? As just one example, can a service provider -- no matter how big -- ever guarantee that it will be in business in perpetuity -- until the ends of time? The answer must be no -- which means at some point there is at least a theoretical risk that your memories will be gone forever -- if not in this lifetime, perhaps in a generation to come.

So, always have a back-up of some kind -- a hard drive; discs; something. These too will not absolutely withstand the test of time (in fact, they won't). But, at least it will give you peace of mind in your own life-time.

And, for Flickr, it is almost unimaginable to me that this Yahoo!-backed service can't retrieve and restore this customer's photos via some backup and redundancy. What's even more amazing is that the company calmly writes the following "comforting" reassurance in response to this fiasco -- i.e., "We've been working on the ability to restore accounts for a while and hope to have it completed early this year." Huh? What? Are you kidding me? "Hope to have it completed early this year"? Why didn't you have it years ago -- like, from the very beginning? These are family memories!

I would put my trust in Shutterfly or some other service provider that thought of this problem from the outset and built their systems accordingly.

I feel for this Flickr customer -- I really do. I don't know what I would do in his situation. Apparently, there isn't much he can do ...