Classmates.com really needs to hang it up
May 12th, 2009 | by mbhunter |It seems like every week I get an e-mail from Classmates.com. I signed up for it years ago but never really was curious enough about finding my own classmates to pay. This week, somebody stopped by and signed my guestbook.
Who could it be, I wonder? I click on the link to get this:
Uhh, no, sorry. There’s a fair chance that this person’s already friended me on Facebook! Why would I want to pay just to get friended again?
This is kind of like searching for the answer to a programming question and forgetting that experts-exchange.com doesn’t actually give you the answer for free … but you can get the answer if you join! Other sites like Code Project and Stack Overflow give you the answers for free. And you can even ask for free!
Free stuff may be going away but, despite Rupert Murdoch disagreeing with me, free is not a flawed business model. If done right, free can be successful. Free rocks. Free is fantastic. Even if I have to look at ads, I’ll take that over paying almost all the time.
Now, if Classmates.com really offered something that different, maybe. But they don’t. It’s just Facebook Lite.
7 Responses to “Classmates.com really needs to hang it up”
By Wayne on May 12, 2009 | Reply
FWIW, Experts Exchange answers are (almost always) freely available, but you have to scroll past the false “bottom” of the page to get to the actual content. They’re actually pretty helpful, although the practice is deceptive. Either that or a tax on the clueless.
By Jourdan on May 12, 2009 | Reply
Actually, experts-exchange gives away the answer for free. It’s just at the *VERY* bottom of the page, buried below miles of junk banners. (Otherwise the Google-bot can’t find the keywords to send you there.)
It’s a very shady practice (much like Classmates), and I enjoy skipping past their shyster salespitch and getting the info I need.
By mbhunter on May 13, 2009 | Reply
Hah, I guess I never noticed that about EE! Thanks for the tip!
By JO on May 14, 2009 | Reply
I GUESS I WAS ONE OF THE STUPID ONES TO SIGN ON TO THIS WEBSITE. I NEVER HEAR FROM ANYONE AND IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS NOTHING HAPPENING. I SIGNED UP FOR A YEAR FOR 39 DOLLARS. WELL GUESS WHAT I WONT SIGN UP AGAIN. I GUESS I WILL LISTEN TO THAT OLD SAYING “LIVE AND LEARN.
By Mike on May 17, 2009 | Reply
I agree with you, if done right, free can work. I don’t think free will be going away if what’s being offered is truly valuable to people, and advertisers realize it.
By PeterM on Jul 29, 2009 | Reply
I also totally agree with the comments above. Whenever I’m considering to use any paid service like the one you describe, I take some time to search for a free alternative first. In most cases, I find one or more which are at least as good as the paid one (sometimes even better).
By Mary on Jul 30, 2009 | Reply
I joined classmates.com two weeks ago and about an hour and a half ago I withdrew my membership.There is no way I am paying to connect with old friends and classmates. Yesterday I got an email saying that I had someone sign my guestbook. And if I wanted to know who it was I needed to by the Gold Membership. What???!!! I just don’t think anyone should have to pay any amount of money to see an old friend.