Pixter is an interesting idea, although one which is – possibly – doomed. Here’s the elevator pitch: Pixter is a for-pay Instagram.
If you use Instagram, you’ll be insta-familiar with Pixter. It’s an iPhone app which lets you snap, filter and share photos with your followers. The difference is that you have to pay. The app itself is free, and you can use it and make limited uploads before you pay, but the paid tier is the point of the app: Take a look at the blurb on the iTunes store and you’ll see that almost no mention is made of the app’s features, with all the info feeding you propaganda about the privacy aspects of the service.
Now, I’m no hater of paid services. I use a ton of subscriptions and services I paid one-off fees for. I pay for Instapaper, Flickr Pro, I ought Pinboard, and a ton more. But the entire pint of a photo-sharing app is that you share your photos, which means that you need to have followers. I doubt most of the people who follow me on Instagram would want to pay for Pixter (yes, they could just use the free version, but why bother when everyone is on Instagram?)
It’s a shame. And while we could all wish that Instagram itself had introduced paid pro accounts before selling out to The Man, we also realize that there’s no way the service could have sold a billion dollars worth of memberships. WillI be paying for Pixter? No. I’m happy with Instagram and Flickr, and two places to share is already too many.
