Forever (website)

FOREVER

Forever website home page screenshot
Headquarters Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Founder(s) Glen Meakem
Industry Internet
Website forever.com
Type of site Digital Preservation
Registration Required
Available in English
Launched May 2012 (2012-05)
Current status Active

FOREVER.com is a digital archive and internet storage start-up company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in May 2012, by successful Pittsburgh entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Glen Meakem, FOREVER is a digital archive where photographs, documents, video, and audio files can be preserved and shared securely and permanently.[1][2][3] On September 28, 2012, the new company trademarked “ForeverTrust” for computer software which stores and retrieves personal documents.[4]

History

After returning from active duty in the First Gulf War, Glen Meakem conducted video interviews with his grandparents and collected many of their old photographs. He quickly realized his need for a secure way to store his family’s memorabilia in perpetuity. The rise of digital technology, coupled with Meakem’s vision, led to the formation of FOREVER.[5] Established in May, 2012, the company raised $9 million in its Series A financing round.[6][7] FOREVER opened its downtown Pittsburgh office in January, 2013. (3) The company launched the first version of its website in August, 2013, to invited members. On November 22, 2013, FOREVER launched the first public version of the website. As of November, 2013, the company had raised around $15 million.[8]

Business Model

FOREVER attempts to resolve two issues which have traditionally confronted digital storage and sharing—ownership and long-term preservation. According to the company’s Terms of Service, users retain ownership of all files they upload even after their passing. In addition, FOREVER guarantees the preservation of those files for the user’s lifetime plus one hundred years, with a goal of thousands of years. In order to achieve this commitment, users pay for "Permanent Gigabytes." These funds are placed in the “FOREVER Guarantee Fund,” a globally diversified investment fund which is restricted and provides income over time like an endowment. The fund finances the long-term storage, bandwidth, and data migration of files to ensure they are readable and accessible by devices in the future. FOREVER does not mine user data or sell it to third party advertisers.[9] The transmission and storage of all data is encrypted. Member content on FOREVER is tripled backed up in geographically diverse locations.[10]

However, there are concerns that even with such a fund, should the company winds up, or becomes insolvent, all the files will be lost. [11] The policy for the fund provides that the fund shall belong to the company. [12] Therefore, one should question whether there is any protection against such probable insolvency or winding up of the company. As stated in the review "Promising to remain a solvent, profitable business for 100 years is a little bold. If you sign up for FOREVER, I suggest asking what would happen if FOREVER doesn’t exist as a company forever." [13]

Features

Currently, FOREVER supports photographs with plans to support documents, video, and audio files.[8] Members can keep their content private, share with friends and family, or share with the public. Users may also designate account managers who may maintain, edit, or curate based on permissions granted to them by the account holder. In addition to online sharing and permanent storage, FOREVER also offers media conversion services. These include the conversion of physical memorabilia into digital formats as well as digital curation of accounts.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Todd, Deborah (January 14, 2014). "Forever.com guards personal memories from prying eyes". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ Nixon, Alex (June 13, 2013). "Venture capitalist Meakem to detail latest business at meeting". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ Tascarella, Patty. “Can Glen Meakem do it again?”, “Pittsburgh Business Times”, Pittsburgh, 22 November 2013. Retrieved on 17 December, 2013.
  4. ↑ Tascarella, Patty. “FreeMarkets’ Meakem founds tech firm”, “Pittsburgh Business Times”, Pittsburgh, 19 October 2012. Retrieved on 17 December, 2013.
  5. ↑ Smit, Deb.“Glen Meakem believes in the promise of Forever, his followup to FreeMarkets”, “Pop City Media”, Pittsburgh, 4 December 2013. Retrieved on 17 December 2013.
  6. ↑ Tascarella, Patty. “Meakem startup raises $9 million”, “Pittsburgh Business Times”, Pittsburgh, 2 January 2013. Retrieved on 17 December, 2013.
  7. ↑ Nixon, Alex (Jan 3, 2013). "Meakem-lead venture Forever.com raises $9M in capital". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  8. 1 2 Tascarella, Patty. “Can Glen Meakem do it again?”, “Pittsburgh Business Times”, Pittsburgh, 22 November 2013. Retrieved on 17 December, 2013.
  9. ↑ “Terms of Service”, Pittsburgh, 14 November 2013. Retrieved on 17 December 2013.
  10. 1 2 “Features”, Pittsburgh, 2013. Retrieved on 17 December 2013.
  11. ↑ http://www.groovypost.com/reviews/forever-com-permanent-cloud-storage-media-conversion/
  12. ↑ https://www.forever.com/investment_policy
  13. ↑ http://www.groovypost.com/reviews/forever-com-permanent-cloud-storage-media-conversion/

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, September 23, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.