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The Desktops Conundrum

Though the Desktops I offer were initially well-received, they've not exactly been downloaded at a steady clip. Some aren't downloaded at all, and even the "popular" ones have tailed off dramatically.

I haven't been promoting them much, and after the initial batch, I only refreshed the listing once. That, no doubt, led to some of the stagnation.

Thing is, I don't really want to close it up. The script is still probably valuable to someone and I still like showing off a few photos. Though I can (and do) also do that at my photoblog, those images are capped at 950 pixels in width and are unsuitable as desktop pictures.

So what should I do? The way I see it, I've got a few options.

  1. Close it down. Gosh I hate dead links, though.
  2. Re-commit to adding a few photos every few weeks and removing poorly performing ones. Post when I make a change.
  3. Drastically cut down on the functionality of the site: release three to six photos every month (perhaps even on the first of each month) in a "limited edition" sort of fashion.

To be honest, the last one seems most appealing to me, but maybe it's not good for other people or there's a better idea I've not yet come up with.

6 Responses to "The Desktops Conundrum"

  1. I'd vote for option 2 or 3. You have some pretty cool stuff out there, and it would be nice to see some new stuff.

    Just my $.02.

  2. I'd go for option 3.

  3. Thanks. I've gone with the third option.

  4. [...] yesterday's post, I've resolved to do the third option: "limited edition" type releases in very small number. I'll [...]

  5. I'd post the images to flickr, myself. A blog for only the photos seems like too much of a hassle and it'd take too much time.

  6. [quote comment="51940"]A blog for only the photos seems like too much of a hassle and it'd take too much time.[/quote]

    It's really not much of a hassle. I just have to remember to do it, and I now have an iCal reminder. Gonna be lot easier to do with only three images.

    The workflow is rather simple. I delete all the existing images. I export new images at the proper resolution (pre-set in Aperture). Two Automator scripts generate thumbnails and previews. I upload.

    The Desktops page has a script that handles everything else via some PHP.

    Among the things flickr can't do here:

    1. Add my little copyright image
    2. Keep track of downloads
    3. Work with all sizes of a user's screen.
    4. Limit the available images to three or six or whatever.

    I like flickr a lot, but it'd be a total failure for this.