I can tell this is the holy season of Lent. My shirts and jacket are all dusty!

The policy of Kodak and others who follow suit is not unfair -- a couple of points from a photo lab owner:
1. Just because you use a site for free, does not mean it doesn't cost someone something somewhere -- companies are in business to MAKE money -- the same reason you go to work every day. They don't have to give things for free - be happy it was free for a long time and now available for a small fee
2. PLEASE don't store your photos on your camera cards OR your computers!!! I know from customes coming in the store very well that computers crash and camera cards get corrupted. I have seen many tears in my store because their once in a life time trip photos are GONE!! Take them OFF your camera card and leave it free for the next event. Put them on your computer if you want, but store them onCD's and put them away. So if/when something happens to your computer, you have a back up. Also - consider PRINTING them! Technology changes so quickly -- and you can't sit next to grandma with the computer between you -- you need to have them in an album. Consider Katrina -- you are running out of the house to escape the flood with things you can't live with out -- are you really going to scoop up your computer >??? Isn't it more likely that you will be able to carry an album or a box of photos???
3. Even if you find another hosting site for free -- remember that their site could fail at any time -- remember all the stores who had people hack in and get credit card numbers?? Hackers or a worm could bring down their site and your stuff is GONE!!!

Vanessa & Charlotte, You are both right on target when you talk about taking responsibility for backing up your own pictures and printing them. Too often, with all the technology available, people gravitate to the conveniences of these photo sharing sites, and neglect to have a Plan B for their photos (which really should be Plan A). YOU always want to be in control of YOUR photos so that due to issues beyond your control--sites closing, computer hard drives crashing, media & format obsolescence, etc--you don't lose your precious photos. I highly recommend making digital photo books of your photos so you have a primary copy if all else fails, and then you can share the completed book online with family & friends, too. This is more fun and meaningful than scrolling through the 300+ vacation photos your friends share with you, which have no context or no story behind them. And years down the line when you are retired in your rocking chair, you'll actually have a printed book to look at, rather than squinting at a computer screen. I'm in the business of helping people preserve their photos & memories, so this topic is close to my heart!

I agree totally! I have used this site since my grandkids were born and all my pictures are there. What a shame!

you can go to www.photobucket.com and put your photos there

What do you mean "working with you'. They want 5 bucks of business a year. Obviously you're not working with them at all. 5 bucks? 20? a year. What a bunch of cheapos.

I agree that we don't need to free load off of Kodak. They have provided free storage for many years and in these hard economic times a small fee for storage space per customer isn't a lot to ask.

ya i agree i took all my pics from my kodak acct and put them in photobucket bo kodak bye bye kodak!!!!

I don't normally read stuff like this (I have a life), but I'm a serious amateur photographer, so I was interested in the subject. This post was the only one that made any sense. Like he said, this is what's wrong with our country today. Stop whining and pay your your own way in life!