Mugnormous

Uncategorized 1 Minute

SmugMug gave me a preview of its new photosharing site that’ll turn on on Friday. They swore me to secrecy. But one thing they did to me is brand a new term into my head: mugnormous. You’ll see what that means when you hear about their new site, but wow. For my cameras they compared their site to a bunch of others and all I can think about is “I’m switching my images to Smugmug.”

Oh, and they have a little fun party on Friday at their headquarters to celebrate their fifth anniversary.

One last thing. This is a weird company. First of all, they are profitable. Second of all they don’t accept advertising. Third of all, they let dogs hang out. Fourth of all they’ve never taken (or needed) any investment. Fifth of all they are growing at a good clip (getting mugnormous, even). Sixth they charge their customers to use their service. Seventh, there’s a photo of one of the founders riding a motorcycle almost naked.

Who let this company survive in Silicon Valley? Heh! Certainly an antidote to that bubble video — here’s Smugmug’s co-founder Don MacAskill as he, and his team watch that video for the first time.

It’s always great meeting companies that break the rules and succeed. Mugnormous indeed.

Oh, and they have a little tool that lets you quickly move your images from other photo sharing sites onto SmugMug. What do they call it? Smugglr. This company has a mugnormous sense of humor, so refreshing to see.

Advertisements

Published by Robert Scoble

I give you a front-row seat on the future. Focusing most of my efforts now on next-generation augmented reality and artificial intelligence, AKA "mixed reality." SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: http://clevermoe.com/scobleizer-news/ BUY OUR NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Transformation-Robert-Scoble/dp/1539894444 "The Fourth Transformation: How augmented reality and artificial intelligence will change everything." WATCH MY LATEST SPEECHES: State of VR with Philip Rosedale (done in VR itself, very cool): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAA1EVGUZU At GEOINT, June 2017: http://trajectorymagazine.com/glimpse-new-world/ Augmented World Expo, June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xHILvLD8E At Leade.rs, April 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI +++++++++++ BIO: Scoble gives you a front-row seat on the future. Literally. He had the first ride in the first Tesla. Siri was launched in his house. He's been the first to share all sorts of technologies and companies with you, from Flipboard to Pandora to Instagram. Today he's focusing on mixed reality, AKA "next-generation augmented reality" which will include a new user interface for EVERYTHING in your life (IoT, Smart Cities, driverless cars, robots, drones, etc). That's based on his view thanks to his past experience as futurist at Rackspace. Best place to find Scoble? On his Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble He has been a technology blogger since 2000, was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community, worked at Fast Company Magazine running its TV efforts, and has been part of technology media businesses since 1993. ++++++++ SPEAKER PITCH: Apple and Facebook now have revealed their Augmented Reality strategies, which means your business needs one too. Rely on Robert Scoble, the world's top authority on AR, to bring to your conference what businesses should do next. SPEECH ABSTRACT #1: TITLE: The Fourth Transformation: What's next in mixed reality (AR and AI) and the future of technology? Here's an example of this talk at Leade.rs in Paris in April, 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI Why "the Fourth Transformation?" Soon we will have phones and glasses that do full on augmented reality. Everything you look at will potentially be augmented. This world is coming in late 2017 with a new iPhone from Apple, amongst other products. Microsoft is betting everything on its HoloLens glasses that do mixed reality and the industry is spending many billions of dollars in R&D and funding new companies like Magic Leap. This future will be the user interface for IoT, Smart Cities, autonomous cars, robots, drones, and your TV. This is a big deal and Robert will take you through what mixed reality is and how it will change every business. Learn more about Robert's speaking style and contact his agent at http://odemanagement.com/robert-scoble/Robert-Scoble.html ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #2: "The Next Two Clicks of Moore's Law." Over the next four years, or two clicks of Moore's Law, a ton about our technology world will change. Scoble will bring you the best from his travels visiting R&D labs, startups, and innovators around the world. He views the world through his rose-colored-mixed-reality glasses, which will be the new user interface for self driving cars, Smart Cities, IoT, and many other things in our world. He'll send you off with some lessons for companies both large and small. ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #3: "Personalized Meaning: What is Augmented Reality For?" As we enter a far more technological world where even cars drive themselves, I predict we'll see a blowback toward the analog, more authentic world. What role does augmented reality play in both worlds? Get Scoble's insight into where augmented reality is going, see tons of real-world demos, and understand what he means by 'personalized meaning.' CONTACT: If you are looking to contact me, email is best: scobleizer@gmail.com. ++++++++ ENDORSEMENTS: IZEA Top 25 Tech Influencers: https://izea.com/2017/07/07/25-top-tech-influencers/ Time: One of the top 140 Twitterers! FT: One of the five most influential Twitterers! Inc. Top 5 on list of Tech Power Players You Need to Know: http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/30-power-players-in-tech-you-need-to-know.html Next Reality: #4 on top 50 AR influencer list: https://next.reality.news/news/nr50-next-realitys-50-people-watch-augmented-mixed-reality-0177454/

Published

36 thoughts on “Mugnormous”

  1. I looked at their service when Yahoo Photos closed down and I had to choose a service to move my images to.

    They do have one of the best services, but they charge more than Flickr for their services.

    I ended up moving my images to Flickr because Yahoo offered me a 3 month (if I remember right!) free trial of the Flickr Pro account and after using it for a while, I now am a paid Flickr Pro user.

    (BTW, I first heard about them on Omar Shahine’s blog.)

    Like

  2. Oh man, Scoble, are you capable of a single post that doesn’t seek to push some inane way of encapsulting an idea into a moronic little buzzword? Seriously, posts like this make me want to throw up – ‘mugnormous’? You’ve gotta be kidding.

    Like

  3. Oh man, Scoble, are you capable of a single post that doesn’t seek to push some inane way of encapsulting an idea into a moronic little buzzword? Seriously, posts like this make me want to throw up – ‘mugnormous’? You’ve gotta be kidding.

    Like

  4. I looked at their service when Yahoo Photos closed down and I had to choose a service to move my images to.

    They do have one of the best services, but they charge more than Flickr for their services.

    I ended up moving my images to Flickr because Yahoo offered me a 3 month (if I remember right!) free trial of the Flickr Pro account and after using it for a while, I now am a paid Flickr Pro user.

    (BTW, I first heard about them on Omar Shahine’s blog.)

    Like

  6. As a professional in the photography industry I found their site to be the best for looking at and sharing photography.

    Like

  7. I am looking quite forward to see that new photosharing site you’re so -wow- about.. So far I think everything ‘social’ and ‘sharing’ website I’ve seen always felt rather like a clumsy try of a re-invention of the web.. – ..than like a mugnormous online service/application one could actually use..

    ..well – looking forward..:] Greetz, t..

    Like

  8. I am looking quite forward to see that new photosharing site you’re so -wow- about.. So far I think everything ‘social’ and ‘sharing’ website I’ve seen always felt rather like a clumsy try of a re-invention of the web.. – ..than like a mugnormous online service/application one could actually use..

    ..well – looking forward..:] Greetz, t..

    Like

  9. I’ve been using Smugmug for 2+years and am almost 100% satisfied with them. If you use a Mac your best bet is to use one of the plugins somebody wrote (available on their site) and skip their tools.

    Other than that they rock!! Wish they had the ability to post videos….

    Like

  10. I’ve been using Smugmug for 2+years and am almost 100% satisfied with them. If you use a Mac your best bet is to use one of the plugins somebody wrote (available on their site) and skip their tools.

    Other than that they rock!! Wish they had the ability to post videos….

    Like

  11. this reeks like a paid endorsement. I mean absolutely reeks. If its as good as you say it is (what could be better than flickr?) then I’d give it a try. I’m a flickr pro member.

    Like

  12. this reeks like a paid endorsement. I mean absolutely reeks. If its as good as you say it is (what could be better than flickr?) then I’d give it a try. I’m a flickr pro member.

    Like

  13. also, I’ve met a few of those Smugmug folks and they are rather smug about their whole profitable, no investment, etc etc. They were around at a good time with a good product.

    Like

  14. also, I’ve met a few of those Smugmug folks and they are rather smug about their whole profitable, no investment, etc etc. They were around at a good time with a good product.

    Like

  15. I wrote a review that covered 7 major photo sharing websites, and the Smugmug guys all came over, commented, and emailed me about my issues. They are a class act, no doubt.

    Like

  16. I wrote a review that covered 7 major photo sharing websites, and the Smugmug guys all came over, commented, and emailed me about my issues. They are a class act, no doubt.

    Like

  17. I’ve been using Smug for more than three years (almost since they started), and have found them to be great… no price increases for long-time members, frequent & meaningful upgrades to the service, an active and communicative developer community which uses the publicly available APIs, etc etc. It’s a group of people who REALLY listen to their customers, it’s not just a lip-service slogan. We’ll see on Fri if mugnormous is ginormous.

    Like

  18. I’ve been using Smug for more than three years (almost since they started), and have found them to be great… no price increases for long-time members, frequent & meaningful upgrades to the service, an active and communicative developer community which uses the publicly available APIs, etc etc. It’s a group of people who REALLY listen to their customers, it’s not just a lip-service slogan. We’ll see on Fri if mugnormous is ginormous.

    Like

  19. andyfox1979: if I ever take money or other bribes I’ll disclose this. Smugmug has gotten TONS of positive attention from people I trust and the version they showed me today was simply impressive. I don’t need to get paid to be impressed and tease you all with that.

    Like

  20. andyfox1979: if I ever take money or other bribes I’ll disclose this. Smugmug has gotten TONS of positive attention from people I trust and the version they showed me today was simply impressive. I don’t need to get paid to be impressed and tease you all with that.

    Like

  23. this reeks like a paid endorsement. I mean absolutely reeks.

    In a normal universe, yes. Only, in this parallel, it’s not, Scoble sucks up for free, all “content” to him. Pay him attention, throw in some ‘we love/adore bloggers’ smaltz, and attempt to focus him for more than 5 minutes, and it’s just as good as a niche-targeted paid infomercial endorsement, for a few news-cycle days at least.

    Like

  24. this reeks like a paid endorsement. I mean absolutely reeks.

    In a normal universe, yes. Only, in this parallel, it’s not, Scoble sucks up for free, all “content” to him. Pay him attention, throw in some ‘we love/adore bloggers’ smaltz, and attempt to focus him for more than 5 minutes, and it’s just as good as a niche-targeted paid infomercial endorsement, for a few news-cycle days at least.

    Like

  27. “Your transformation to the dark side is now complete…”
    In one post Robert you have become a part of the Silicon Valley hype machine. “They swore me to secrecy” sounds so bad and so PR. I don’t need a preview hype post as I only have time to read about 12 blogs that I can read completely each day. I put you on that 12 because I know you review a lot more technical blogs than I do.
    But of the ones I do read, I read them in detail and if all you do is give me snipits of things to come, what’s the value there?
    More posts with less quality information or less posts with more quality information?

    Like

  28. “Your transformation to the dark side is now complete…”
    In one post Robert you have become a part of the Silicon Valley hype machine. “They swore me to secrecy” sounds so bad and so PR. I don’t need a preview hype post as I only have time to read about 12 blogs that I can read completely each day. I put you on that 12 because I know you review a lot more technical blogs than I do.
    But of the ones I do read, I read them in detail and if all you do is give me snipits of things to come, what’s the value there?
    More posts with less quality information or less posts with more quality information?

    Like

  33. Don is good people .. he is smart and I have a lot of respect for him after hanging out with him in Vegas for a weekend. Good to see SmugMug getting the attention it deserves

    Like

  34. Don is good people .. he is smart and I have a lot of respect for him after hanging out with him in Vegas for a weekend. Good to see SmugMug getting the attention it deserves

    Like

  35. Pingback: Why Won’t You Let Me Give the Gift of Smugmug? « Spontaneous Publicity
  36. Pingback: Scoble on Smugmug at Adagio Journal

Comments are closed.