If you're squeezing everything, you reduce the staff, refuse to pay overtime, the staff have too much to do, lose motivation, don't work late or at weekends, and of course they can't say anything. Sound familiar?

If that is the case then that's also bad management. If you're trying to maximise profits what is happening at IS is not the way to do it. Squeeze contributors, OK, but at least have a smoothly functioning site to maximise sales. IS has always had tech problems since I've been a contributor, it's just that these feel worse at the moment.

these are the worse I've seen since the 7 years I've been with iStock.  worse in terms that they have gone on and on gong on what, several months now?  I lost track.

It does seem more epic and across the board than anything I've seen before. They really crushed my income with a few of the best match shake ups but it always seemed like some other contributor was a winner there. This seems more global in its swath of damage, I don't know if it is even helping their bottom line, especially not in the long run.

I was under the impression that the old code was the old site. F5 was built brand new, using different code. No?

I know a lot of things were new, but I don't think they ever said all the code was new. A lot of the UI changed, but I'll bet that not all of the back end functions did. It's always tempting to use the old stuff, particularly when you run into time constraints.

They're clearly struggling. I doubt they'll ever say publicly what the reasons are.

Oh look. They are accepting submissions for editorial, with the expectation to launch in a few weeks. You can bet I'll be settling in with popcorn to watch the latest F5 chaos.

okay, time to add to this list.  there's a "blank page" issue going on with the site.  i can only imagine a buyer experiencing this annoyance!
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=300722&page=2

I can't believe how long the list of bugs is. Pathetic.

so I sent a twitter message to @istock and they told me the blank pages (which appear to be fixed now) were caused by server issues:

@JamiRae we had some bunk web servers.  We've taken them offline.  Should be fine now, but let me know if it persists

So I replied stating that I thought they had just gotten a bunch of new servers.  (Didn't they?  I mean, really if the hardware provider gave them junk, they should definitely be holding someone's butt to the fire. )

the reply to that was

@JamiRae we have A LOT of hardware.  Statistically, some of them are bound to blow up from time to time.

okay, I didn't bother replying there because didn't think it warranted a back and forth after that.

But I'm thinking, again, "What Would Amazon Do?"  seriously, they have tons of servers and I can't remember the last time I went there and there was a technical glitch with the site.  And I am an Amazon regular.  A multi-million dollar company like iStock certainly should have backups and rollovers so that anytime something happens a backup server can quickly take over.  I sure wish they would use that 85% they are collecting off most sales and invest in TECHNICIANS who are experienced and knowledgeable in these things.

Quote from: jamirae on February 07, 2011, 14:18

But I'm thinking, again, "What Would Amazon Do?"  seriously, they have tons of servers and I can't remember the last time I went there and there was a technical glitch with the site.  And I am an Amazon regular.  A multi-million dollar company like iStock certainly should have backups and rollovers so that anytime something happens a backup server can quickly take over.  I sure wish they would use that 85% they are collecting off most sales and invest in TECHNICIANS who are experienced and knowledgeable in these things.

Do Istockphoto ever, ever, ever think "What Would Amazon Do?"? The way they operate their website I'm not even sure that they've heard of Amazon let alone actually used them. I might send them an Amazon gift voucher for a copy of "Websites for Dummies" to confuse their 'development team' That's a bit of a misnomer as development usually refers to things getting better rather than continuously worse.

hahahaahaha!  ROTFLMAO! 

Did anyone else see this post in the Independence Day forum that Brigit (StockCube) has?  Apparently there is a backlog and people who have cancelled their IS exclusivity have been waiting OVER the 30 day mark?  some are at 45 days and counting and IS has not changed their status yet.

http://the-independence-day-forum.983074.n3.nabble.com/iStock-mucks-up-the-works-td2444013.html

This is total BS!!!! They are in violation of the terms of their own agreement with serious harm to contributors seeking to sell their images elsewhere.  I would be flipping out if it were me!

I certainly wouldnt be concerned with their backlog.  The ASA says you may terminate the agreement by your action.  There is nothing about them pushing a button or anything.

"This Agreement is effective until terminated. You may terminate this Agreement with respect to the whole (but not part of) one or more of Photo Content, Illustration Content, Flash Content or Motion Content at any time by giving thirty (30) days written notice specifying the category or categories of Exclusive Content to which termination applies to iStockphoto using [[email protected]] or such other means of written notice acceptable to iStockphoto which enables confirmation of your identity and your intention to terminate."

If they have a problem, it's their fault because they are not fulfilling their agreement.  IMO.

Absolutely. If they continue to pay you as an exclusive then that's their problem. Upload away and enjoy the extra income.

Yeah, I wonder why they don't just kill it off and be done with it, whatever the problems were.