Android pals, welcome to 2010! Me and eric are already there, everybody else get on board before I make fun of you for not discovering it until tomorrow.

Lol at least you're not like these other people taking to twitter with the "Ewww don't follow me if you have Android" tweets. ::barf::

I mean each OS and phone has it's good and bads but geez some of these people lol.

Um, dude I have a Samsung. That's why I posted this. I had no idea what you were talking about, I was gonna suggest you stop following twelve year olds on twitter, then I saw that it's a thing now. Everyday I hate Apple, their products and their users (like me ) just a little bit more.

Lol yea that's what I was referring to. I had just read that article right before I had seen your topic

I have an Instagram account on my iPhone, but I hardly ever use it. I took two pictures to see what all the fuss was a few months ago and I haven't used it since.

You can see my two amazing Instagram photos at http://ink361.com/cnc137. You might have to log into that site with you Instagram account before you can see the photos. I tried going to the URL in a different browser that I wasn't logged into Instagram with and only got a black box with "INK361" in the middle. The browser that I am logged into Instagram and INK361 with lets me see the photos.

I downloaded Instagram just to see what the big deal was. It seems it's just a camera app that take sepia toned pictures? My phone already did that, so I don't know what the deal is. Someone explain it to me?

and lol @ all the iPhone people getting mad because their app is now available elsewhere. Those are the same people who get made at me because Draw Something is easier on my phone than theirs. If you phone defines you, and having a certain app that others don't have makes you feel special, then you have some issues, lol.

I guess Instagram is an easy way to take pictures, add filters, and share them with your friends and family. It is a little like Twitter for pictures. I don't take that many pictures that I want to share with others and when I do I just use Twitter and TwitPic (http://twitpic.com/photos/cnc137) instead.

Maybe I am missing the point of Instagram???

I believe it is within my power to articulate the appeal of Instagram.

1. It's ubiquitous and easy.

It's simple and it's easy and it works. Everyone's using it and all your friends are already there. For a lot of people I imagine Instagram is simply the default. I spent a few minutes browsing through the people friends were following, seeing what people are doing with it and I ran across quite a few who had signed up, taken one or two pictures and abandoned it. A lot like Twitter. The app is well-designed and enjoyable to use and the easiest/best/simplest/fastest way I've tried to publish photos.

2. It's really easy to make anything look good.

Toy camera/Polaroid/etc. emulators are like the color equivalent of shooting black and white film. It's a shortcut. Most any idiot with a basic grasp of photography can take decentish photos. I mean, not everyone, I've seen plenty of terrible Instagram pics, but you still have to do a LITTLE of the work, but you can basically ignore lighting, color, contrast, focus, etc. Just pick a filter that makes it look ok. Not to mention the whole aesthetic of it is so hot right now. But that's a different/longer conversation.

3. It's limiting.

Limitations on creativity are freeing. This is the biggest point for me. I can lose hours on one shot in Photoshop exploring virtually unlimited options. I'm sure anyone who's ever done anything can relate to option paralysis, in any medium. With Instagram you take a picture, crop, turn brightness on or off, pick a filter and you're done. Example. I took this at the end of a car wash night before last.



It's nothing amazing, but it was online by the time I was rolling out the wash. Sure I could have done it with any number of apps and photo hosts, but it wouldn't have been as streamlined and it might look even worse. Or possibly better.

Speaking of which Facebook is buying them for 1 billion dollars?

Here is why Facebook bought Instagram.

And here is how to export all your photos if you want.

Personally, as long as they leave the app alone and this is more about integrating Instagram into Facebook than Facebook into Instagram I guess it doesn't matter.

Is Instagram and their photo service really worth $1 billion? That price sounds kind of crazy to me. I had to double check that it was April 9th and not the 1st. Are we heading towards another Internet bubble that is going to burst?

Most likely yes.

If you want an alternative to Instagram because of the whole Facebook buyout, then you may want to consider http://Pinweel.com.

The only problem with Pinweel, that Hucast touched on above, is that all your friend are probably not on it. This is the reason Facebook has succeeded when it basically sucks in my opinion.