This is a Very Special Post. If you go to the main page of my blog, you won't find it. It's only visible if you follow the link from my ADN post, so only ADN people will see it.1 See? I did something special for you. And you thought I didn't care. Anyway….
There's been a lot of discussion on ADN in the past few days about ADN, the network that loves to talk about ADN. People are downgrading, people are upgrading, people are leaving, people are disappearing. Sigh.
In many ways, ADN is like Linux. It's a good idea, implemented in a less-than-ideal way, that has failed to live up to its expectations despite (or perhaps because of) inspiring religious fervor in its advocates. But I digress, yet again.
I'm going to be very clear about several things here:
- Yes, I'm renewing my @larand account this month. My @la account has been permanently downgraded, and isn't coming back.
- No, I'm not convinced ADN has a bright future. Rather the opposite.
- Yes, I'm narrowing down the list of people I follow, because I intend to be prepared when, not if, I eventually downgrade. I want to be in control of with which 40 people I ride into Valhalla when the apocalypse comes.
- Yes, I will eventually downgrade. It's inevitable. It's just not happening now. There comes a time when the crusade is over, and you have to decide whether to fall on your sword, or say the shahada and get on with your life. Apologies to anyone offended by that analogy.
- I've paid my fair share, and then some. Bad business decisions on the part of management are not my responsibility.
I also want to be very clear about the following: I love ADN. It's the best thing I've ever been a part of on the Internet. I've met people there I never would have met otherwise, and I plan to keep in touch with them in whatever way I can. But I am not a man of unlimited means, and I have other demands on my checkbook and a wife to keep happy.
This is also where I'd like to thank Berg for keeping the lights on this long. He's not getting paid for this any more, and Dalton has vanished into the mists of Y Combinator. It's gotta be a thankless, lonely task. And because of that, I recognize that someday, something big and expensive will break, and he'll look at the last couple of dozen people using the service, assuming they can be discerned through all the Nigerian Viagra spam in Global, and he'll say, "Fuck it. I'm done." And then it will fade to black.
For all of you who are determined to pay for developer accounts, give extra money to Berg, or maintain multiple accounts in the face of disaster, I salute you. You are fine people. I wish I could do the same. But I can't.
This was true when hosted on Posthaven, but the version is here visible globally.