Can You Depend on Online Storage Services That Are Free ?

streamload-mediamax

When DivShare launched in 2007, they offered unlimited storage space and would accept files as large as 200 MB. You could even hotlink to images hosted on Divshare from your own blog / website and thus save bandwidth bills.

A year later, DivShare announced that files hosted on DivShare servers will be inaccessible to visitors from Asia because online advertising was weak in that region. This limit did no apply to DivShare customers who had a paid account.

Another service called Streamload MediaMax made its debut at CES 2006 and offered 25 GB of free online storage space with no restrictions on file size. They did manage to create a substantial user base because the offered space was much larger than any of the competing services.

But in April this year, MediaMax changed its name to “The LinkUp” and asked all existing free members to upgrade to a pro-account else their files will be removed permanently.

Obviously, old MediaMax customers like Poonam and Dr. Mike aren’t happy because their own data is locked by another company – the files will be lost forever unless they pay. Scary situation indeed.

Related: Never Backup Data on a Web Hosting Server

Amit Agarwal is a web geek, solo entrepreneur and loves making things on the Internet. Google recently awarded him the Google Developer Expert and Google Cloud Champion title for his work on Google Workspace and Google Apps Script.

Awards & Recognition

Google Developer Expert

Google Developer Expert

Google awarded us the Developer Expert title recogizing our work in Workspace

ProductHunt Golden Kitty

ProductHunt Golden Kitty

Our Gmail tool won the Lifehack of the Year award at ProductHunt Golden Kitty Awards

Microsoft MVP Alumni

Microsoft MVP Alumni

Microsoft awarded us the Most Valuable Professional title for 5 years in a row

Google Cloud Champion

Google Cloud Champion

Google awarded us the Champion Innovator award for technical expertise

Want to stay up to date?
Sign up for our email newsletter.

We will never send any spam emails. Promise 🫶🏻