What are some web services worth paying for?
December 26, 2010 11:39 AM Subscribe
What are some web services worth paying for?
What are some good/quality websites/web services besides metafilter and pinboard.in that require a one-time sign up fee which are worth paying for? Services with an annual fee can also be considered but I'm not really looking for ones that have a monthly fee.
What are some good/quality websites/web services besides metafilter and pinboard.in that require a one-time sign up fee which are worth paying for? Services with an annual fee can also be considered but I'm not really looking for ones that have a monthly fee.
One of the few websites that I pay for is SoundCloud, which I pay for despite the fact that I have a free unlimited account at a similar site because the functionality and user experience is so good.
It's monthly/yearly so not quite what you were looking for, but I'm guessing that you were looking for "examples of high enough quality to be worth money" and it's certainly that.
posted by flaterik at 11:45 AM on December 26, 2010
It's monthly/yearly so not quite what you were looking for, but I'm guessing that you were looking for "examples of high enough quality to be worth money" and it's certainly that.
posted by flaterik at 11:45 AM on December 26, 2010
Remember the Milk charges $25 for a 1-year "pro" subscription which gives you access to the mobile apps and priority support. It's worth it for those who, like me, make lists for nearly everything.
posted by aheckler at 11:47 AM on December 26, 2010
posted by aheckler at 11:47 AM on December 26, 2010
ConsumerReports.org.
Instructables.com
Rhapsody has always been pretty good, if you have a computer running where you listen to music.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:48 AM on December 26, 2010
Instructables.com
Rhapsody has always been pretty good, if you have a computer running where you listen to music.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:48 AM on December 26, 2010
They're yearly/monthly fees, but they're so good I have to mention it: I live and die by my Evernote and Dropbox use, so those are two that's well worth the money to me.
posted by ninjakins at 11:53 AM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ninjakins at 11:53 AM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Usenet. Enough said.
posted by lakerk at 11:56 AM on December 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by lakerk at 11:56 AM on December 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
I love Pandora, Flickr, and Dreamwidth, and have never regretted paying for any of those services. And, of course, MetaFilter.
posted by shamash at 12:00 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by shamash at 12:00 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yeah...Flickr, Usenet, Dropbox...and the SomethingAwful forums...if that's your thing.
posted by jnnla at 12:03 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jnnla at 12:03 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
I pay a monthly fee of around $4 per month to the Amazon S3 service for backup storage. They charge a flat fee by the GB.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:13 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:13 PM on December 26, 2010
Netflix and Flickr.
posted by John Cohen at 12:14 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by John Cohen at 12:14 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: All great answers so far - keep 'em comin! As for Usenet, sorry if this sounds naive, but is usenet.com your provider? if not, what are some Usenet providers you would recommend?
posted by meta.mark at 12:24 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by meta.mark at 12:24 PM on December 26, 2010
Its not one time, but I annually pay for Pandora and Back Blaze (cloud based online backup of my PC)
posted by bitdamaged at 12:28 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by bitdamaged at 12:28 PM on December 26, 2010
(oh on looking at CPB's suggestion, I get consumer reports too)
posted by bitdamaged at 12:29 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by bitdamaged at 12:29 PM on December 26, 2010
Flickr, possibly Apple's DotMac (or whatever they're calling it this week) if you have a Mac.
SDF is a very traditional, multi-user Unix system which has a free account and then a $36 one-time-payment, lifetime-membership tier that gives you access to just about everything you would have had on a good .edu or corporate Unix system, circa sometime in the early/mid 90s. (And access to some even-more-nostalgia-inducing stuff, like a TWENEX box.) It's very nerdy but if you're into that sort of thing it's a lot of fun. Totally worth the fee, and the money goes towards keeping the system operational.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:00 PM on December 26, 2010 [5 favorites]
SDF is a very traditional, multi-user Unix system which has a free account and then a $36 one-time-payment, lifetime-membership tier that gives you access to just about everything you would have had on a good .edu or corporate Unix system, circa sometime in the early/mid 90s. (And access to some even-more-nostalgia-inducing stuff, like a TWENEX box.) It's very nerdy but if you're into that sort of thing it's a lot of fun. Totally worth the fee, and the money goes towards keeping the system operational.
posted by Kadin2048 at 1:00 PM on December 26, 2010 [5 favorites]
4th'ing Usenet (I use a monthly Giganews subscription as my Server/source. .and software "Newsbin" as my client)
Dropbox has already been mentioned (much more peace of mind to know all my valuable files are backed-up "in the cloud". I also purchased 1Password to manage all my Usernames/Passwords (80+ sites). .and that password-database file is synced to Dropbox as well, so I have access to it from my computer, iPhone or iPad. Total WIN.)
posted by jmnugent at 1:14 PM on December 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
Dropbox has already been mentioned (much more peace of mind to know all my valuable files are backed-up "in the cloud". I also purchased 1Password to manage all my Usernames/Passwords (80+ sites). .and that password-database file is synced to Dropbox as well, so I have access to it from my computer, iPhone or iPad. Total WIN.)
posted by jmnugent at 1:14 PM on December 26, 2010 [2 favorites]
LibraryThing for keeping track of your library. A lifetime account is something like $25.
posted by bryghtrose at 1:41 PM on December 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
posted by bryghtrose at 1:41 PM on December 26, 2010 [4 favorites]
I pay for Flickr, Rhapsody, LastPass, MozyHome cloud backup, RememberTheMilk, and a contact management app from 37Signals whose name I am forgetting (Backpack?). I use the free versions of Dropbox, Instapaper, and Evernote.
posted by matildaben at 3:07 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by matildaben at 3:07 PM on December 26, 2010
The contact management app is called Highrise.
posted by matildaben at 3:10 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by matildaben at 3:10 PM on December 26, 2010 [1 favorite]
I pay for LJ, Flickr, Netflix, and Something Awful forums.
posted by spinifex23 at 3:33 PM on December 26, 2010
posted by spinifex23 at 3:33 PM on December 26, 2010
I pay for Pandora, Netflix, BackBlaze, and MobileMe. I love MM's syncing capabilities between devices. Pandora and Netflix are just awesome anyway.
BackBlaze is the only cloud backup service that hasn't throttled my uploads (yet). Carbonite and Mozy both throttled me after a certain amount uploaded.
posted by santaliqueur at 6:15 PM on December 26, 2010
BackBlaze is the only cloud backup service that hasn't throttled my uploads (yet). Carbonite and Mozy both throttled me after a certain amount uploaded.
posted by santaliqueur at 6:15 PM on December 26, 2010
Fastmail.fm ; offers a lot besides email : file storage, websites, photo galleries, etc.
I chose ZumoDrive for sharing files & music amongst several computers (different OSs) and my iPhone.
CrashPlan for 'real' backups (which isn't to say DropBox ain't great as a quick and dirty backup solution)
posted by armoir from antproof case at 6:18 PM on December 26, 2010
I chose ZumoDrive for sharing files & music amongst several computers (different OSs) and my iPhone.
CrashPlan for 'real' backups (which isn't to say DropBox ain't great as a quick and dirty backup solution)
posted by armoir from antproof case at 6:18 PM on December 26, 2010
I just renewed my Flickr Pro account after using it this past year. It's far and away the best photo storage/sharing/exploring service I've ever used.
posted by litnerd at 6:40 AM on December 27, 2010
posted by litnerd at 6:40 AM on December 27, 2010
I cheerfully pay for data backup at rsync.net, solely because of their superlative stance on privacy.
posted by namewithoutwords at 7:24 AM on December 27, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by namewithoutwords at 7:24 AM on December 27, 2010 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for everyone's answer! All great answers :)
posted by meta.mark at 10:17 AM on December 27, 2010
posted by meta.mark at 10:17 AM on December 27, 2010
meta.mark... Lifehacker come under a lot of fire for actually talking about Usenet, but it's still a good way to get started. Usenet users generally like to be left alone because it's best when nobody comes knocking.
posted by namewithhe1d at 1:12 PM on December 27, 2010
posted by namewithhe1d at 1:12 PM on December 27, 2010
Definitely Flickr and MobileMe, but I don't see anyone else saying Internet Garage Sale, which i really like and which i wish had taken off better. http://franklabs.com/igs/
posted by kostia at 7:37 PM on December 27, 2010
posted by kostia at 7:37 PM on December 27, 2010
Response by poster: Update: even though I've marked this question as "resolved" I found this askmefi thread and thought you guys might find it interesting as well.
posted by meta.mark at 11:11 PM on December 28, 2010
posted by meta.mark at 11:11 PM on December 28, 2010
Evernote is pretty awesome....
posted by knockoutking at 10:12 AM on December 29, 2010
posted by knockoutking at 10:12 AM on December 29, 2010
Dial2Do. Just paid for it (first year of payment starts now.)
I can call a phone number, say "email" and a contact name I've used before and just say the email. Totally safe while driving. Ditto for the ability to SMS with my voice.
posted by filmgeek at 2:02 PM on January 11, 2011
I can call a phone number, say "email" and a contact name I've used before and just say the email. Totally safe while driving. Ditto for the ability to SMS with my voice.
posted by filmgeek at 2:02 PM on January 11, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 11:42 AM on December 26, 2010 [3 favorites]