The question we're all wondering about Pinboard
How many new subs did they pick up from this debacle? Maciej is a pretty transparent guy, and I for one am dying to know. This was the best trolling based marketing scheme I have ever seen. Somehow, he got some very rich people to simultaneously:
1. Get egg all over their faces 2. Give him an inordinate amount of free publicity 3. Donate 20k to a worthy charity.
Fucking brilliant.
Brilliant indeed! I'd been a fan of Maciej's writing and I was somewhat aware of pinboard, but never bothered to sign up. But after following this highly entertaining and, IMO, worthwhile situation, and after reading tptacek's endorsement [1], I immediately got a 'premium' archive account. I'm probably not the only one...
I do wish there was a demo version or free trial though. I think many people I knew would be happy paying users, but there's no way I can convince them to get an account if they can't try it out first.
I don't think the intention was to get egg on anyone's face.