Bureau of Programming

Mozilla Acquires Pocket

Mozilla has acquired Pocket, the read-it-later service. Chris Beard, Mozilla CEO, writes:

We believe that the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content is key to keeping the internet healthy by fighting against the rising tide of centralization and walled gardens.

This is good news for web users. Its primary competitor Instapaper was acquired by Pinterest in August 2016 and suffered a multi-day outage earlier this month. After shutting down its $30/year premium service, Instapaper no longer has an obvious revenue stream, which leaves its future in doubt. This doubt is compounded by its outdated FAQ:

Does Instapaper make money?
Yes. Instapaper is run by a small team. It earns income to cover its costs. If you’d like to support Instapaper, the best way to do it is to purchase Instapaper Premium.

Fingers crossed, Mozilla will be a better steward of Pocket.

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