

Picwing (YC S08) and the importance of print photos - edawerd
http://vator.tv/news/show/2009-08-19-picwing-and-the-importance-of-print-photos

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adamhowell
With all the small, actually-have-a-business-plan startups we're going to be
seeing in the next several years, I think there's a huge demand for more press
coverage like this.

Daily articles, audio and video from knowledgeable reporters and interviewers
that really dive into the business, technology and lifestyle of small startups
(even more so than this video, which is more 30,000 ft).

Of course, then you'd have an awesome little media company with great,
original content that still had to make its money via... advertising. Ugh.

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edawerd
Vator.tv has a refreshing take on startup reporting, I think. Instead of
copy/pasting your "About" page, Chris of Vator actually came over twice to
chat with us and learn more about the company and learn more about us, the
founders more personally.

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Timothee
I thought Picwing was only making the smart frame
(<http://www.picwing.com/frame>). Was the printing there all this time and I
missed it, or did they just change direction and focus on the print service
rather than the hardware?

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edawerd
We've changed directions and have been focusing on our print service.

We still think our frame is quite awesome, but it turns out that a lot of
families still like getting physical prints in the mail and posting it up on
their fridge and what not. We learned early on that there is a much bigger
opportunity, huge market, and slower competitors in the prints business. Add
on top of that a much lower investment requirement for a software business
(even our printing and order fulfillment is done on the cloud), and it just
made business sense for us to switch to an online printing service.

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anigbrowl
Props on your flexibility, and particularly on having the vision to service
the other side of the digital divide. If it's not confidential, I wonder what
proportion of your business is urban v rural?

While I was looking at your site I was thinking it was sad that people would
upload photos for automated delivery to Grandma rather than (say) print them
out at home or Walgreens and add a handwritten note...then it struck me that I
take digital convenience for granted, living in SF.

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joel_feather
Why are they making an android app first, and an iPhone app second?

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dannyr
Maybe they are trying to test it on a smaller subset of users.

