I got a notice today in my Yahoo inbox today saying that Yahoo Briefcase is closing as of March 30, 2009. I use Yahoo for a few things, mostly eBay transactions and some newsletters that get me on a bunch of spam lists – I like Yahoo’s spam filter. I had not remembered using Yahoo Briefcase, but after receiving notice that it was being shut down and that any files there would be deleted, I went over to double-check. My briefcase was empty.
I had not heard anything about them closing the service, but I can understand that if it’s not being used, it probably needs to go. The notice from Yahoo stated that it would refund any remaining payments left on premium Briefcase service users after that date, an honorable thing to do, I think.
Back in the day, Yahoo was king. It offered a stable mail service, the Briefcase feature, and groups. I am still on plenty of email lists that are run by Yahoo Groups, and I have to say the Yahoo system can’t be beat for clarity and simplicity when it comes to group email lists. Yahoo was what Google is still working on being. Yahoo definitely had its moment in the sun, and probably could still be a contender, but it didn’t develop fast enough to keep up with the demands from higher-end users. Those people have mostly moved over to Google, where Google Docs, Picasa, and gmail have formed a rather complete package for heavy users. Yahoo had that once, but somehow, it lost its luster, and I’m not sure why. Considering how much I still use Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Groups, I can’t say they have been completely unsuccessful. They just weren’t hitting the right markets, I suppose.
But to be honest, I don’t use Google any different than I used Yahoo. I am using the email feature, and I am registered for one Google Group that I get mail from. I rarely use the Google docs feature, I have never uploaded anything to Picassa web because I already have a Flickr account. I’m the kind of user who has their laptop attached to their hip, it goes everywhere with me, and anything I need is right there. What I do have online is limited, because it’s not always convenient for me to have to log into something to retrieve an item I want to work with. And at some point, between my personal blogs and web spaces I have plenty of places to put my pictures and documents without having to use anyone else’s service.
But still, when I got that message from Yahoo this morning, it made me a bit sad. Yahoo was king once. It’s hard to see its demise now.