DISQUS

VentureBeat: Digsby passes 1 million users, pays you $1 to add more

  • Eric K · 4 months ago
    Interesting - a side effect of this is that it will promote a spammy friend-adding environment (a la myspace), which was good for a quick burst but wasn't sustainable.
  • Casey Allen · 4 months ago
    So check this:

    It's too bad they've got a killer interface, because the slick execution of what the program ACTUALLY does on your computer is scandalous.

    I've read a lot of Terms of Service in my day, but theirs (http://www.digsby.com/tos.php) states pretty clearly that they're creating a cloud, using your hard drive, and this program is merely the Trojan Horse.

    Your idle time is their time to run calculations on your CPU.

    Too bad...their product is at least six months ahead of everyone elses.
  • Erick · 3 months ago
    Hi caseyallen, I'm sorry it's taken so long to reply, I just saw your comment. There is more info about this on our blog post from when we first announced it:

    http://blog.digsby.com/archives/68

    You can disable it in Help > Support Digsby, however this option will be moved into a more prominent place in the preferences.

    Most importantly, it has no effect on your computer's performance. It only kicks on after you have been idle (no keyboard or mouse activity) for at least 5 minutes and turns off as soon as there is keyboard or mouse movement. On laptops, it will use a much smaller portion of your CPUs overall processing power than it will on desktops. It will also never turn on if your laptop is running on battery power.

    A lot of our users think this is a good way to monetize a free product instead of plastering it with banner ads. However, we are always open to other alternatives and greatly appreciate feedback.