# Yahoo CEO: " ...there is no such thing really as professional photographers"



## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

Yahoo! Event | Watch the video - Yahoo! Screen

Go to 46:12 to see it for yourself; she speaks fast and mumbles a bit. 

" ... was a decision that we would not have the Flickr Pro piece anymore, and that all - there's no such thing as Flickr Pro, because today, with cameras as pervasive as they are, *there is no such thing really as professional photographers*, when there's everything is professional photographers. Certainly there is varying levels of skills, but we didn't want to have a Flickr Pro anymore, we wanted everyone to have professional quality photos, space, and sharing."

The move to offer everyone 1TB free is *awesome*.

The jab to professional photographers shows a worrisome disconnect between flickR and their understanding of the photographic industry. She implies that because of the sheer number of cameras, nobody is a professional anymore. Pretty stupid. 

That's like saying "with basketball hoops and basketballs as pervasive as they are, there's really no such thing as a professional basketball player anymore."

I don't know anything about this new Yahoo CEO, but that is a pretty ignorant statement to make.


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## runnah (May 21, 2013)

Chalk it up to corporate disconnect. $5 says he doesn't even know what flickr is or does, he just sees an assest to be bought and sold.


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## Derrel (May 21, 2013)

Their streaming is currently not working...


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## ronlane (May 21, 2013)

She came from Google over to Yahoo to try to save it. So that is where she gets the arogance to make that statement.


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## cgipson1 (May 21, 2013)

Time to quit using Flickr!


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## jowensphoto (May 21, 2013)

runnah said:


> Chalk it up to corporate disconnect. $5 says he doesn't even know what flickr is or does, he just sees an assest to be bought and sold.



Dude looks like a lady!

So much in fact, "he" took office while pregnant.


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## runnah (May 21, 2013)

jowensphoto said:


> runnah said:
> 
> 
> > Chalk it up to corporate disconnect. $5 says he doesn't even know what flickr is or does, he just sees an assest to be bought and sold.
> ...



chalk that up to my sexist world view.


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## amolitor (May 21, 2013)

flickr's interest in pandering to professional photographer is.. zero. Why on earth would they give a crap what some tiny group of non-customers would think?


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## kathyt (May 21, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> Yahoo! Event | Watch the video - Yahoo! Screen
> 
> Go to 46:12 to see it for yourself; she speaks fast and mumbles a bit.
> 
> ...



Write her a little memo rotanimod and let her know how you feel about that.


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## kathyt (May 21, 2013)

runnah said:


> Chalk it up to corporate disconnect. $5 says he doesn't even know what flickr is or does, he just sees an assest to be bought and sold.



He is a she.


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

kathythorson said:


> Write her a little memo rotanimod and let her know how you feel about that.



This thread will get thousands of hits over it's life, so it's like I already did


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## cgipson1 (May 21, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> kathythorson said:
> 
> 
> > Write her a little memo rotanimod and let her know how you feel about that.
> ...



You GO, Bro!  :hail:


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## runnah (May 21, 2013)

kathythorson said:


> runnah said:
> 
> 
> > Chalk it up to corporate disconnect. $5 says he doesn't even know what flickr is or does, he just sees an assest to be bought and sold.
> ...




Figures...


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## CowgirlMama (May 21, 2013)

I *just* renewed my subscription. Anybody know if they're giving money back? Because I'm *ticked*. I paid $50 for 2 years.


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## Pallycow (May 21, 2013)

amolitor said:


> Why on earth would they give a crap what some tiny group of non-customers would think?



as much as I hate agreeing with amolitor...generally...lolol.  This is pretty much dead on balls accurate.  Rant and rave all ya want...but fact is that they won't care.


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## Greiver (May 21, 2013)

If this ignorant dunce is who they have as a CEO, Yahoo is doomed.


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## Pallycow (May 21, 2013)

Yahoo is more than Flickr...I'm sure they'll be fine.  ;-)


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

Pallycow said:


> Yahoo is more than Flickr...I'm sure they'll be fine.  ;-)



I wouldn't be so sure about that. They've struggled mightily as a company for a long time.  Only recently have they pulled themselves out of near extinction. So I wouldn't bet the farm on it. 

They also seem to have a very poor track record as far as hiring CEO's that don't say/do stupid things. 

https://www.google.com/finance?chdn...e&q=NASDAQ:YHOO&ntsp=0&ei=LdGbUamkNefniQLhuQE


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## runnah (May 21, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> Pallycow said:
> 
> 
> > Yahoo is more than Flickr...I'm sure they'll be fine.  ;-)
> ...




Yahoo is Google's gangrenous testicle that just needs to be cut off and thrown in the trash.


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

amolitor said:


> flickr's interest in pandering to professional photographer is.. zero. Why on earth would they give a crap what some tiny group of non-customers would think?



Do you have data to support this? 

I have lots of friends who are part time/ full time pro's, who pay for and use FlickR Pro. Wouldn't the "paying money" thing be enough to consider these pros a "customer" of FlickR?


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## Pallycow (May 21, 2013)

Not to be a chit, but you're friends...and even your friends friends...and our friends' friends, don't amount to anything in the grand scheme of things.  You really have to look at it on a grander scale.  If someone, even a moronic ceo, cuts out a part of a business model that generates income...you have to consider thought was put in to that on the scheme of how effective it would be towards their bottom line.

Since the cut was made, obviously it was not so effective as to keep it.  Things like these are pennies...fractions of pennies...when it comes to bottom line dollars in the end.


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## ronlane (May 21, 2013)

Pallycow said:


> Not to be a chit, but you're friends...and even your friends friends...and our friends' friends, don't amount to anything in the grand scheme of things. You really have to look at it on a grander scale. If someone, even a moronic ceo, cuts out a part of a business model that generates income...you have to consider thought was put in to that on the scheme of how effective it would be towards their bottom line.
> 
> Since the cut was made, obviously it was not so effective as to keep it. Things like these are pennies...fractions of pennies...when it comes to bottom line dollars in the end.



Agreed, for them to cut it out, they must have been spending way too much to maintain it, sell ads, etc.


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## Steve5D (May 21, 2013)

I use Flickr. They wanna' give me a terrabyte? Beautiful. I'll take it.

The day I lose even a minute's sleep over whether or not HMFIC at Yahoo thinks I'm a "professional photographer" is the day I slide out the Kimber, slip in a magazine, rack the slide, and end it all.

I really, really, truly don't care...


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## sm4him (May 21, 2013)

CowgirlMama said:


> I *just* renewed my subscription. Anybody know if they're giving money back? Because I'm *ticked*. I paid $50 for 2 years.



Me too. Well, I paid for a year. It's set to automatically renew, but they had a problem because my card information had changed since last year and I hadn't updated it. So two days ago, they sent me an email telling me they were having trouble processing the payment. I went in and fixed it--they neglected to mention that they were about to charge me for something that was going to cease to exist in two days.  One might say I was a tiny bit "miffed."

I just sent them an email which I believe will "clarify" for them how I feel about not being told I was about to pay for something they were going to kill off in two days and requesting a refund.  I'll let you know what I hear from them.


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## Dikkie (May 21, 2013)

CowgirlMama said:


> I *just* renewed my subscription. Anybody know if they're giving money back? Because I'm *ticked*. I paid $50 for 2 years.



I'm in the same boat here...  went from FREE to PRO last week... guess I'll go back to FREE soon...
The only difference we have now is the poor stats...


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## sm4him (May 21, 2013)

Well, this is the same woman who declared last year that having a baby was WAY easier than everyone makes it out to be. LOL.  Might be easy enough when you have unlimited funds to throw at daycares, nannies and such--but I still can't wait to see if she says the same thing about teenagers! :lmao:
Or until she has that SECOND child who is nothing LIKE the first. My first kid was "easy" too...laid back, slept through the night very early, rarely cried for no good reason...second kid? Not so much. 

Anyway, her whole attitude with the baby thing caused her to lose any tiny bit of credibility I might have otherwise lent her anyway, so I don't really give a rat's patootie what she thinks about...well, about anything, really.  I use flickr because I like how it works. When I stop liking how it works, I'll stop using it.

I do wonder, though: Since there are no professional photographers, wonder who she gets to take studio portraits of her son? Maybe she just picks a random flickr user from time to time? :lmao:


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## Derrel (May 21, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> Yahoo! Event | Watch the video - Yahoo! Screen
> 
> Go to 46:12 to see it for yourself; she speaks fast and mumbles a bit.
> 
> ...



I went to the video and watched the segment in question. Her response was in reply to a question about the end of the old Flickr "pro" account model. She made a somewhat inarticulate reply, but her statement was far from ignorant; she described the current state of "pro" photography quite well, but her response was in reply to a specific question about Flickr, and the ending of the "pro" accounts that Flickr used to have. The majority of the "pro" accounts on Flickr were not held by professional photographers, but just simply heavy users. Her reply focused on the fact that ALL users would be given 1 terrabyte of storage space.

Your assertion that her response was "ignorant" is a classic example of taking a brief quote,of extemporaneous speech, out of context, and trying to make something of it. Viewed in context, her comment was actually not ignorant, but it describes the thought process that lead them to stopping the old model, with the "pro" accounts, and moving toward a business model where every user gets 1 terrabyte of storage space. I'm afraid your non sequiter about basketballs doesn't really "play" with the facts. In fact, that's why it is a non sequiter..."An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence."

Look at the question she was asked by an audience member, then look at her reply, look at the state of the industry, and look at why everybody gets 1 TB...she handles it all in just a few seconds.


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## bhop (May 21, 2013)

CowgirlMama said:


> I *just* renewed my subscription. Anybody know if they're giving money back? Because I'm *ticked*. I paid $50 for 2 years.



I read somewhere that they are.

edit: apparently if you downgrade in your "pro" settings, you get a refund.. i'm not sure though.


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## Overread (May 21, 2013)

I don't think the whole "flickr pro account" ever had anything to do with professional photographers anyway. I mean all it gave you was stats (which were pretty weak stats anyway - most of mine were "unknown") - extended organising features (ie more sets) - access to all photos now just the latest 200 - and more storage and upload limits. 

So nothing in there that screams "professional" over "just regular shooter that shoots more and wants more features"


in flickr communities it was a running joke that "hey at least here everyone is a "pro" right because anyone could get the PRO on their account with a nominal fee for features.


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## runnah (May 21, 2013)

Overread said:


> I don't think the whole "flickr pro account" ever had anything to do with professional photographers anyway. I mean all it gave you was stats (which were pretty weak stats anyway - most of mine were "unknown") - extended organising features (ie more sets) - access to all photos now just the latest 200 - and more storage and upload limits.



I could name you hundreds of pieces of software that use the same naming convention. flickr just has the misfortune of having real life pros use it.


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

Derrel said:


> Your assertion that her response was "ignorant" is a classic example of taking a brief quote,of extemporaneous speech, out of context, and trying to make something of it. Viewed in context, her comment was actually not ignorant, but it describes the thought process that lead them to stopping the old model, with the "pro" accounts, and moving toward a business model where every user gets 1 terrabyte of storage space. I'm afraid your non sequiter about basketballs doesn't really "play" with the facts. In fact, that's why it is a non sequiter..."An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence."



There's enough context from the garbled quote I provided, and those can go watch the video if they want more. 

The heart of the matter here is this CEO *actually believes* simply because there is an abundance of cameras and people taking photos, there is no such thing as a professional photographer anymore. 

To quote her precisely:



> _ with cameras as pervasive as they are, _*there is no such thing really as professional photographers,*




And to address this: 



Derrel said:


> Look at the question she was asked by an audience member, then look at her reply, look at the state of the industry, and look at why everybody gets 1 TB...she handles it all in just a few seconds.



The "state of the industry" doesn't really matter in regard to the point I am trying to make. Of course it's nice to offer everyone a lot of free space. Of course there are more cameras than ever before. Photography as an industry is shifting, and rapidly moving to unexplored territory. There is a flood of images everywhere you look, all the time. But to actually say "There is no such thing as professional photographers" is a very ignorant summation and a poor response to the audience member.


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## Overread (May 21, 2013)

Yep "pro" is used all over the place. Heck I think my Spyder is a pro edition (or maybe elite since elite are better than pros I think).


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## Dikkie (May 21, 2013)

What with the old rule that a free account had the restriction that you could only view the last 200 photo's uploaded?

If you have a terabyte to upload 500 000 photo's (as they say), and you can only see the last 200... that would be kind of st00pid.
I suppose that rule does not count anymore?


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## Derrel (May 21, 2013)

Overread said:


> I don't think the whole "flickr pro account" ever had anything to do with professional photographers anyway. I mean all it gave you was stats (which were pretty weak stats anyway - most of mine were "unknown") - extended organising features (ie more sets) - access to all photos now just the latest 200 - and more storage and upload limits.
> 
> So nothing in there that screams "professional" over "just regular shooter that shoots more and wants more features"



You make a good point, and further expand upon my comment about taking a brief quote out of context; I agree, the "pro" account Flickr offered was not related to professional photographers, and I think her comment reflected that. What she said at the press conference represent unscripted thoughts, and reveal the behind-the-scenes status as she is familiar with it...on Flickr pro, there were not many so-called professional photographers. There was no real "need" to offer Flickr Pro accounts. 

I think it's pretty obvious that when a person is asked a question, sometimes "thoughts" have to be translated to words,immediately. But viewers without training in journalism or interviewing might jump to conclusions because they do not have experience is finely parsing such comments. Her comments for example; they need to be looked at in the context of 1) the question asked about 2) a specific business model. I think the CEO's comment that there's no such thing as propfessional photographers was kind of an unwilling "tell", a verbal slip, an accidental disclosure of their research, which says that 1)there are almost no professional photographers using the old FLickr Pro account model, but 2) there are boatloads of people with high-resolution cameras so 3) we figured we'd better drop the pretense, and try and monetize this by giving everybody a whopping 1 TB of storage space.

The give the razor away, sell 'em the blades for life model made hundreds of millions of dollars. Facebook does the same thing..."unlimited" photo storage...along with a hefty dose of targeted advertisements delivered daily. The FLickr Pro account was setting up a ridiculous artificial distinction with the "pro" service...so...they dropped it...


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## Steve5D (May 21, 2013)

Honestly, if the CEO of Yahoo was in a position to solely determine the health and vitality of the photography industry, there might be cause for concern. Saving that, though, this is simply an example of someone who's stupid. Taking offense to her comments is not much less stupid...


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

Steve5D said:


> Honestly, if the CEO of Yahoo was in a position to solely determine the health and vitality of the photography industry, there might be cause for concern. Saving that, though, this is simply an example of someone who's stupid. Taking offense to her comments is not much less stupid...




I'm not going to get into it with you again, Steve. Your constant ad hominem attacks and general negativity add little value to the forum.


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## Derrel (May 21, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > Your assertion that her response was "ignorant" is a classic example of taking a brief quote,of extemporaneous speech, out of context, and trying to make something of it. Viewed in context, her comment was actually not ignorant, but it describes the thought process that lead them to stopping the old model, with the "pro" accounts, and moving toward a business model where every user gets 1 terrabyte of storage space. I'm afraid your non sequiter about basketballs doesn't really "play" with the facts. In fact, that's why it is a non sequiter..."An inference or conclusion that does not follow from the premises or evidence."
> ...



You need to consider these as 1) off-the-cuff comments in response to 2)why they discontinued the Flickr Pro account method of trying to extract money. You can try all you want to "make something of it" with the basketball players analogy. Your "point" is based on the commonly seen practice of taking a quote out of context and trying to "make a point out of something" somebody said, in response to a specific question. She did that. Your use of the word ignorant, repeatedly, doesn't make your argument any stronger. You seem to be ignorant that the type of argument you are trying to make has been done tens of thousands of times before, on almost any news story where people disagree with something a person said. You need to step back and try and put the comments into their *actual context.*

She was thinking out loud...you can re-quote this statement, in bold, as many times as you'd like":*there is no such thing really as professional photographers,"
*
but you are utterly missing the MEANING of what the statement meant. You are taking a comment wayyyy out of context. For Flickr Pro accounts, there never really was anything "professional" about their offerings, and they had no professional photographer user base to speak of. Again, let me explain it: she was talking about their decision to stop the Flickr Pro account. Her comments reflect their understanding of their business model...Flickr Pro was not of much use to professionals....Zenfolio is and was...they know that.
She let us in on their thought process as to why Flickr Pro was being killed off. Why is that so,so difficult to understand?

Here is a FAMOUS quote that was taken way out of context:  http://beatlesnumber9.com/biggerjesus.html


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

Derrel said:


> She was thinking out loud...you can re-quote this statement, in bold, as many times as you'd like":*there is no such thing really as professional photographers,"
> *
> but you are utterly missing the MEANING of what the statement meant. You are taking a comment wayyyy out of context. For Flickr Pro accounts, there never really was anything "professional" about their offerings, and they had no professional photographer user base to speak of.



What she said was more of a statement on photography in general. You and I may interpret it differently. But as for taking it out of context, she said what she said. And the implications of what she said make her appear somewhat ignorant and out of touch, to me.


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## amolitor (May 21, 2013)

When someone says something that is obviously wrong in:

- in answer to a question at a press conference
- in a posting on an internet forum
- on a blog post

you should in general assume that we're talking about a misspeaking, a dropped word, a momentary lapse of common sense. The CEO of Yahoo is not a moron, she is aware that professional photographers exist. Therefore, when she says something like "professional photographers don't exist" you need to assume that there's something else going on. These are not PhD theses, errors creep in. Trying to make something out of someone's silly mistake isn't likely to go very far.

Of course, on internet forums it's actually what passes for "argument", but it's also pretty lame.


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## Derrel (May 21, 2013)

amolitor said:


> When someone says something that is obviously wrong in:
> 
> - in answer to a question at a press conference
> - in a posting on an internet forum
> ...



In other words, one must examine the statement *IN THE CONTEXT* in which it was actually MADE.


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## amolitor (May 21, 2013)

Well, if you're gonna try to figure out what she was actually trying to say when she said the obviously wrong thing, context ain't gonna hurt. You can also just ignore that bit. It's also possible that you still won't be able to figure out WTF she meant, and maybe that was just a bunch of filler words


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 21, 2013)

Derrel said:


> In other words, one must examine the statement *IN THE CONTEXT* in which it was actually MADE.



Or, CEO's could not say stupid things in the first place. Ya know, think before you say something that could come off as _really dumb_?


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## Derrel (May 21, 2013)

I typed in the phrase "stupid quotes", and found a site with these....some of these are INCREDIBLE howlers!!!!


http://www.allgreatquotes.com/stupid_quotes.shtml


640K ought to be enough for anybody.
*Bill Gates, *_1981_


A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.
*Dan Quayle*


Airplanes are interesting toys, but they have no military value.
*Marshal Ferdinand Foch *_in 1911_


And there's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail.
*George W Bush*


And what do you do?
*Queen Elizabeth II, *_to four British guitar greats, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Brian May, at reception for British music industry at Buckingham Palace March 2005_


Are you a guitarist, too?
*Queen Elizabeth II,*_ to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page who co-wrote Stairway to Heaven, at Buckingham Palace reception for British music industry March 2005_


Are you Indian or Pakistani? I can never tell the difference between you chaps.
*Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip,*_ at Washington Embassy reception for Commonwealth members_


China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese.
*Charles De Gaulle, *_former French President_


Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
*Popular Mechanics, *_forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949_


Do not bother to sell your gas shares. The electric light has no future.
*Professor John Henry Pepper, *_on Thomas Edison's electric light invention_


Do you have blacks, too?
*George W Bush, *_to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso_


Do you still throw spears at each other?
*Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, **to Australian Aborigines*


Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot in it, a science which I have practiced for a good many years.
*Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip*


Every prime minister needs a Willie.
*Margaret Thatcher, *_referring to Lord William Whitelaw_



I believe there would be many people alive today if there were a death penalty.
*Nancy Reagan*


I have determined that there is no market for talking pictures.
*Thomas Edison,*_ in 1926_


I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
*Thomas J. Watson, *_1943, Chairman of the Board of IBM_


Radio has no future.
*Lord Kelvin, *_Victorian physicist and President of Royal Society, c. 1897_


So, where's the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?
*Christina Aguilera*


Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.
*Irving Fisher, *_Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929._


Television won't last. It's a flash in the pan.
*Mary Somerville, *_radio presenter, in 1948_


That 'rainbow' song is no good. It slows the picture down.
*Anonymous MGM producer, *_after first screening of The Wizard of Oz_


The atomic bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives.
*Admiral William Leahy, *_on US Atomic Bomb Project, to President Truman in 1945_


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## cgipson1 (May 21, 2013)

My fav..... total honesty!

Dontopedalogy is the science of opening your mouth and putting your foot  in it, a science which I have practiced for a good many years.
*Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip*


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## jowensphoto (May 21, 2013)

Interesting tidbit: yahoo is planning to spend/ already spent 1/3 of its cash withholdings on Tumblr.


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## Overread (May 21, 2013)

jowensphoto said:


> Interesting tidbit: yahoo is planning to spend/ already spent 1/3 of its cash withholdings on Tumblr.



From what I've heard Tumblr was basically going to fall apart on its own as it proved so popular it cost too much to actually keep it up running in the near future (ergo the guy running it found himself way out of depth). I've also heard that they've no immediate plans to change anything- which I suspect is a way for them to take over - gain respect from the community for "not changing anything and running it smooth" and then suddenly bring out their own wave of changes


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## jowensphoto (May 21, 2013)

Oh, sure. Isn't that how it usually works?


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## Steve5D (May 21, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> Steve5D said:
> 
> 
> > Honestly, if the CEO of Yahoo was in a position to solely determine the health and vitality of the photography industry, there might be cause for concern. Saving that, though, this is simply an example of someone who's stupid. Taking offense to her comments is not much less stupid...
> ...



I'll acknowledge that I might come across as negative when someone gets upset over something that will never, ever affect them.

But I'll certainly allow for the possibility that I'm wrong (however remote that possibility may be).

So, perhaps you could explain what the problem is.

Why do her comments offend you?

How do her comments affect you?

Given as it has you upset enough to watch an hour long video and then start a thread about it, perhaps you could be a bit more articulate as to what about it is so upsetting to you...


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## Pallycow (May 21, 2013)

Flickr was "handy" but really nothing more than that.  I'd like to think...and could be wrong...but true working professionals are going to have their own site they use for their portfolio anyway...so really this only affects the hobbyists...which I believe coincides with her comments.


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## Steve5D (May 21, 2013)

More than anything, I use Flickr for hosting photos I want to post elsewhere...


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## Overread (May 21, 2013)

Working pros HAD to have their own site because flickr's rules were such that you were not allowed to use your images hosted on their services for commercial gain/on commercial websites. It was always a website dedicated primarily for the hobbyist photographer. The "pro" thing was mostly just like how other companies like to call their better packages professional because it sounds nice.


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## manaheim (May 22, 2013)

I must be the only person in the world who doesn't have a Flickr account.




sm4him said:


> Well, this is the same woman who declared last year that having a baby was WAY easier than everyone makes it out to be. LOL.  Might be easy enough when you have unlimited funds to throw at daycares, nannies and such--but I still can't wait to see if she says the same thing about teenagers! :lmao:
> Or until she has that SECOND child who is nothing LIKE the first. My first kid was "easy" too...laid back, slept through the night very early, rarely cried for no good reason...second kid? Not so much.
> 
> Anyway, her whole attitude with the baby thing caused her to lose any tiny bit of credibility I might have otherwise lent her anyway, so I don't really give a rat's patootie what she thinks about...well, about anything, really.  I use flickr because I like how it works. When I stop liking how it works, I'll stop using it.
> ...



Let them eat cake!


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## bentcountershaft (May 22, 2013)

If everyone here would just get over themselves for a second and accept the statement as is you might see the benefit of it.  No more "What Defines a Pro" threads.  When you think about it that way she's really doing us all a favor and we should thank her every week.


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## TCampbell (May 22, 2013)

Flickr upset a lot of their Pro users with the way they handled the transition, but I noticed they backpedaled by the end of the day.

While everyone gets a free terrabyte, Pro users get to keep their "unlimited" space and other pro features (everything but the "pro" badge next to your name).  But the condition was that (a) you had to have a pro account active AND it had to be set to auto-renew.  If you didn't have pro it's too late to buy it (attractive to some because the only thing you get by paying $50/year is no ads... pro is $25/year and is no ads, unlimited space, and a few other features.)  

But what REALLY ticked people off (at on all the comments I was following on Google+) was that if you weren't already set to auto-renew then your pro membership would expire normally and they wouldn't let you renew it.  In an interesting post by Thomas Hawk, they gave away free "pro" certificates at a Photowalk and even paid pro accounts could use it to extend their pro membership.  Anyone who took advantage of the free coupon ended up having to disable auto-renew, apply the certificate, and then remember to go back to being "paid" pro (rather than free/gifted pro) as their gift period came to a close.  All those people learned they were basically being kicked to the curb with no way to get back in.  They were NOT happy.

By the end of the day, Flickr had revised their FAQ and now state that as long as your "pro" membership was active as of midnight, May 20, then you can keep your pro membership (whether it was a free/gifted pro vs. paid pro and whether auto-renew was enabled or not.)  HOWEVER... if you actually let it expire, then you're out.

If you are a paid pro user but you'd rather take advantage of the free account with ads (because, let's face it, it takes a LOT of photos to fill up 1TB) then they'll give you a refund (pro-rated refund) and revert you to a free member.  They do make it clear that if you take the money and run then there's no going back (you can't change your mind.)

I think I found most of the rules here:  Flickr: Help: Free Accounts, Upgrading and Gifts


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## texkam (May 22, 2013)

> with cameras as pervasive as they are, there is no such thing really as professional photographers,


Well, she's right. Just like there is no such thing really as professional graphic designers, with low cost computers and software, internet contests and third-world labor as pervasive as they are. Join the club chaps. Now excuse me while I get my pimply-face nephew to design my company's logo for $50. : /


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## Ilovemycam (May 22, 2013)

Screw Yahoo. They deleted my account on Flickr after 9 days. I lost 190 images SCREW THEM...I use nothing Yahoo is I can help it. Now that they bot Tumblr I am waiting to see how they fudge it up.


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## Ilovemycam (May 22, 2013)

Overread said:


> jowensphoto said:
> 
> 
> > Interesting tidbit: yahoo is planning to spend/ already spent 1/3 of its cash withholdings on Tumblr.
> ...




That could be true. Tumblr had poor cust service for the last few months when I asked questions. I had heard they get 80 to100 million posts a day. Most have pix attached. So it all costs $$. 

Wouldn't it be something if we could run one of these photo forums like Tumblr? I'd be in photo forum heaven! 

On Tumblr you have no worries. Say and post as you like.....FREEDOM TO BREATH!!!


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## Ilovemycam (May 22, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> Pallycow said:
> 
> 
> > Yahoo is more than Flickr...I'm sure they'll be fine. ;-)
> ...




Their search engine is poor.


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## Ilovemycam (May 22, 2013)

amolitor said:


> flickr's interest in pandering to professional photographer is.. zero. Why on earth would they give a crap what some tiny group of non-customers would think?




Lots of pros moved over to 500, zen and other pro sites. They don't care much about flickr.


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## Ilovemycam (May 22, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> amolitor said:
> 
> 
> > flickr's interest in pandering to professional photographer is.. zero. Why on earth would they give a crap what some tiny group of non-customers would think?
> ...



A lot of photogs had pro accounts that had crap for work. To me pro just meant large capacity storage.


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## Overread (May 22, 2013)

Ilovemycam said:


> amolitor said:
> 
> 
> > flickr's interest in pandering to professional photographer is.. zero. Why on earth would they give a crap what some tiny group of non-customers would think?
> ...



to be honest most of that was because 500, Zen and others were new and thus had small populations and thus didn't have the "riff raff" who were lesser photographers. Plus smaller communities are always attractive - people naturally prefer to be part of smaller communities where they can feel PART of the community - than being in huge ones where they are clearly just a tiny insignificant cog in the machine. 

Of course the other factor is that flickr never allowed you to use photos hosted on their service for marketing or sales - they were always just for photo sharing not profit so many pros only got onto flickr for the exposure and not much more (or just to share photos in a good environment). They always used a different host or their own website for their commercial stuff.


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## manaheim (May 22, 2013)

This thread has it all...

- grousing over change - any change
- second guessing seasoned CEOs of multinational corporations
- armchair quarterbacking critical business decisions
- slight over being denied the hallowed title of professional 

I wish we could just all reasonably discuss interesting turns of events in our worlds rather than getting so bent out of shape by them.


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## Steve5D (May 22, 2013)

manaheim said:


> I wish we could just all reasonably discuss interesting turns of events in our worlds rather than getting so bent out of shape by them.



That can only happen, though, when people are able to stop being offended by something someone else says, and which will never affect them. 

_Ever_.

If the CEO of Yahoo believes there's no such thing as a "professional photographer", I would be hard pressed to really give a rat's ass. 

Seriously, how is this even a matter of _remote _concern?


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## Dikkie (May 23, 2013)

manaheim said:


> This thread has it all...


AFAIK, it's a conspiracy


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## amolitor (May 23, 2013)

If too many people believe I don't exist, I will vanish.


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## Majeed Badizadegan (May 23, 2013)

So she's apologized now and attempting to clear the air:

Marissa Mayer Sorry for "Misstatement" on Professional Photographers


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## runnah (May 23, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> So she's apologized now and attempting to clear the air:
> 
> Marissa Mayer Sorry for "Misstatement" on Professional Photographers




Ironically you can tell she used a pro photographer for her twitter avatar. I wonder why she just didn't get a friend with a camera to take it?


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## o hey tyler (May 23, 2013)

Rotanimod said:


> So she's apologized now and attempting to clear the air:
> 
> Marissa Mayer Sorry for "Misstatement" on Professional Photographers



Twitter: The universally accepted venue to voice an apology.


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## runnah (May 23, 2013)

o hey tyler said:


> Rotanimod said:
> 
> 
> > So she's apologized now and attempting to clear the air:
> ...




Twitter is like giving people a loaded gun that shoots stupid instead of bullets.


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## Greiver (May 23, 2013)

manaheim said:


> I wish we could just all reasonably discuss interesting turns of events in our worlds rather than getting so bent out of shape by them.


And you expect that to happen on the Internet of all places?


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## Overread (May 23, 2013)

Greiver said:


> manaheim said:
> 
> 
> > I wish we could just all reasonably discuss interesting turns of events in our worlds rather than getting so bent out of shape by them.
> ...



As a mod yes - yes I do - and when it doesn't happen evil things can happen


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## Alex_B (May 23, 2013)

never used that service anyway


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## Dikkie (May 24, 2013)

Want from Pro to Free, today.
There was no benefit anymore for a pay account... 

Hoping to get my refund the next 5-10 days as they showed on screen...


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## Steve5D (May 24, 2013)

It remains no big deal...


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## Dikkie (May 25, 2013)

Dikkie said:


> Hoping to get my refund the next 5-10 days as they showed on screen...



to let you know that I got my money refunded already


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## Dikkie (May 25, 2013)

Steve5D said:


> It remains no big deal...



Then why should people pay for something they give for free, anyway?
Flickr apparently want to refund lots of money to their customers, is Flickr turning into a charity business? 
Don't know how they're going to win anything with that plan


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## Steve5D (May 25, 2013)

Dikkie said:


> Steve5D said:
> 
> 
> > It remains no big deal...
> ...



I still insist it's no big deal.

The topic at hand would be the statement made by Yahoo's CEO. 

My position is that what she said means dick. It won't influence anyone, in any way, whatsoever. If you were a professional _before _she said what she did, I've got news for you: _YOU STILL ARE_. If you _weren't _a professional before she said what she did, you still can become one.

It's just kinda' funny how one off-handed remark can get blown so out of proportion.

I'll say this, though: Threads like this are a never-ending cavalcade of entertainment...


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## Dikkie (May 27, 2013)

I don't give a damn about her statement. I don't care about that label put on the paying members, whether it's called "pro", "idiot", "Elite", "n00b" or even nothing. I didn't ask for that label anyway, certainly as I'm totally not a professional.


What I'm complaining about is that paying members don't get anything more than free members right now. A free terabyte... who's going to pay for unlimited? And the stats you had as only extra, are not really that much... 
They apparently want every paying member to change to free, and refund each subscription again.


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## Landwomble (Jun 1, 2013)

How would Marissa know? She has about 12 pics on her personal Flickr.. 

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2


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## imagemaker46 (Jun 1, 2013)

I guess the next time she needs a portrait done she'll seek out someone with a camera phone. I seriously doubt it, so when a professional photographer is hired to make her look good, she should just kiss the photographers ass and say thanks.


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## imagemaker46 (Jun 1, 2013)

If you do a search on Marissa Mayer and look at the pictures, 99% were shot by professional photographers.


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## rexbobcat (Jun 1, 2013)

imagemaker46 said:


> I guess the next time she needs a portrait done she'll seek out someone with a camera phone. I seriously doubt it, so when a professional photographer is hired to make her look good, she should just kiss the photographers ass and say thanks.



Possibly. I mean, the Chicago Sun-Times just laid off its photo staff in favor of reporters' iPhones so...Anything is possible. Lol


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