The Future of Delicious

One problem with the Internet has always been to keep track of the sites you like.  This was true twenty years ago, and, with the constant expansion of the Internet, it is even more true now.

Back in the 90s when I was first on the Internet, I used the bookmarks in my web browser.  This worked to a point, but it causes problems if you need to access your sites when you're on another computer or if your computer dies and you don't have them backed up somewhere.

Later, when I was hosting my own website, thyme.net, on my own FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and then Slackware Linux server, I wrote a program in PERL, a scripting language.  I entered my links into a text file, then ran the script and it created a web page that I could then access remotely.  This worked pretty good, but I was limited on where I could add links from.

Then I stumbled on a website, early in its history called Delicious.  They got a clever domain name of del.icio.us. It was catchy and easy to remember and it took off quickly.  You can save your links on their website and access them from anywhere.  You can make your links public or private.  You can send links to friends on the site from within it.  You can search or browse other people's links.  It is basically social networking for links.  It solved my problems.

Later on, Delicious was sold to Yahoo!.  Yahoo! kept it in tact.  The only change I know of during the time they've owned it was allowing people to create accounts on it using their Yahoo! ID, so they didn't need a separate account with a separate password.  But my existing account still works without being linked to my Yahoo! account.

Over the last month or so, there's been a rumor that Yahoo! is looking as selling Delicious.  Today, I received the following email:

Delicious has a new owner -- what this means for you

Dear Delicious User,

Yahoo! is excited to announce that Delicious has been acquired by the founders of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. As creators of the largest online video platform, Hurley and Chen have firsthand expertise enabling millions of consumers to share their experiences with the world. Delicious will become part of their new Internet company, AVOS.

To continue using Delicious, you must agree to let Yahoo! transfer your bookmarks to AVOS. After a transition period and after your bookmarks are transferred, you will be subject to the AVOS terms of service and privacy policy.

So, AVOS now owns Delicious.  They claim it will stay free and that they will develop it.  They did do amazing with YouTube before Google bought it, so I don't doubt their abilities.  We'll see where it goes from here.

I backed up my bookmarks just in case and agreed to the new terms.

Bethany Kennedy
IT Professional