Ourmedia has launched

I first learned about Ourmedia back at Northern Voice. The site launched today, and I must say, it looks very sharp! Definitely take some time to check it out, I know I will be.

Yet at the same time, I don’t think Ourmedia is the “wave of the future” as co-founder JD Lasica has called it. There’s a few different reasons for this:

• Nothing is ever free! While admirable, Ourmedia’s promise to host your all your media forever should not be taken at face value. What happens when the money behind it now runs out? What happens if their servers go down or are damaged and a bunch of your data is lost? You aren’t paying them, so you’re stuck. Accountability becomes a major concern.
• A business has to make money. This point is similar to the one above – what happens when the money behind it now runs out? It’s not a government project, so it cannot be funded by taxpayer’s dollars. Someone has to pick up the bill. Eventually, they’ll need to find a way to make money. Value-added services perhaps, and then how is it different from any other site?
• People like to do things themselves! Why doesn’t everyone have a blog at Blogger? Because some people just like to do it themselves. To build something on their own. So how effective will Ourmedia be if not everyone is on board? I guess we’ll find out with regards to this point.
• Specialization! Video is quite different from audio which is quite different from pictures. Is there a single way to manage, store, share, etc. all of this media? Probably, but I don’t think it’s the best way. Ourmedia will probably never do images better than Flickr, for example. Specialized services will always have their place, and will be very important.
• As usual, privacy. I don’t think this is as important, but there will undoubtedly be people who will raise concerns and thus cause headaches for Ourmedia.

I applaud Ourmedia for getting their idea out there and ready to be used. And I wish them luck. I just don’t think it’s the revolutionary service its being hailed as, nor will it ever be.