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“Oh, wait, this is our fault….”

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Honestly, this wasn’t actually meant to be a ‘pile on iStock’ day, but when you have a target-rich environment, you have to make the most of it.

Last week we reported (8/24 – Getty Site – Site Down as Stock Is Down?) on the new Getty Images site as being down. Well, what happened here?

It seems that Mr. Livingstone’s at it again. Where is Ranz when you need her?

(Continued, with another error after the Jump)
I was just minding my own business, following a link from another site, and this is what I ran up against.

Perhaps it’s (as reported at StockPhotoTalk) the “…Feel free to download 30 of our 60 sample photos for free and get a 20% discount on your first purchase…” server load? Or, maybe, it’s because everyone’s over at the iStockalypse and no one is minding the store? So, I go back to check again 10 minutes later, and here’s what I get at the main site:


Down for maintenance? Isn’t that what the IT department does on a Saturday night, when there is little traffic (relatively speaking)? Not on a Thursday around noon!

I guess it’s a good thing that today isn’t 100% royalty day!
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Originally published on Photo Business News & Forum on August 30, 2007. Comments are closed; this post is part of the archive.

7 thoughts on ““Oh, wait, this is our fault….””

  1. John, I am sorry to say but you have beat this dog to death. Yeah we get it, you hate this business model! So instead of whipping it again why don’t you spend a bit of constructive time and educate us a bit in alternative ways to sell out stock photographs.You are a great teacher so please give this rant a rest so we can really learn something from you again.
  3. I was going to school when RF came into play. Everyone thought that was a huge deal. Now penny stocks, what new outargues idea will they come up with next. Maybe we will have to pay THEM give away our photos, isn’t that that only way we can go!!! We as photographers have to speak out and educate, so we can move away from these silly business models.
  4. The problem is I don’t see much education going on. Instead of constantly ranting about the industry I think established pros that don’t like the direction of the industry should help teach techniques to market and sell stock photography in a better business model. I have learned quite a bit from John Harrington but I think he is way over the top on this issue. I know several well established professional photographers that sell quality work on sites like IstockPhoto and they diagree with John so I am really confused. I want to hear about alternative ways to sell my stock from people that are so disturbed by microstock. Come on guys quit complaining and give us some real direction here!
  5. I agree with John S. and know a few pros that are doing the micro stock thing and adding extra income into their business with out a lot of extra cost – so their profits are going up? But your right the constant ranting without an objective review just isn’t helpful.

    I completely understand that folks that have real jobs and just do the photography thing for fun probably should try to turn it into a business. Just do it for the love of it and stay out of the marketing aspect.

    However if someone has a real (non-photo) job and they are trying to break into making money with photography you are not really making a objective argument to stay out of the micros.

    Anyway, again I agree with John S – I really used to enjoy reading your site and your insights but I am about to drop this off my RSS feed because this seems like a religious war. I can also go back to the PC/MAC forums and jump in on that fight!
  6. Rather than dismissing John’s concerns about the low-end (and I mean, low end) stock industry, try to take a look atht recent history of our industry.

    How 15 years ago, the industry was Right Managed with images fairly priced, it then shifted to straight RM to a mix with RF, then in the past few years to images being a commidity for the lowest bidder.

    Getty is trying to offer product to all levels of clients and in the past year introduced a new library called Right Ready. It ia an attempt to place material into a specific time and rights package. Not the same as RM but not near as loose as RF or Microstock.

    If you don’t like reading what John is saying, then don’t. It is that simple. His argument has always been that ASMP and other trade organizations have nto been successful in educating people about the dangers of RF and Microstock.

    Now there is a forum (along with many others) where this information and concerns can be expressed. John has helped a lto fo people by writing his book and for years, sharing his approach to the industry. I don’t agree with everything his says. But then again, I’ve been shooting much longer than him for higher level clients and have a different perspective because of my experience.

    There are those who may not appreciate John and what he has written. I do appreciate his efforts.
  7. anonymous:I didn’t say I don’t appreciate John’s efforts. I just think his methods and approach to this issue are becomming counter-productive. In fact I think that many peoples approach to this issue is more kneejerk than constructive action. Poeple need information and education to turn this around not constant griping about the state of the business. As far as not reading when I don’t agree with something or not commenting when invited, yes that is an option but I also want to engage in constructive dialog an not be told to go away because you don’t like what I am saying. I appreciate John Harrington’s efforts but I think it is time to change tactics here.

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