Microsoft is shutting down its Popfly mashup tool, organization officials are confirming.Microsoft fielded a beta of Popfly back in 2007, at the height of the Internet 2.0 mashup craze. Popfly was created to permit non-professional programmers and hobbyists to build mash-ups, gadgets, Internet web-sites and programs using pre-built “blocks.” There had been tens of those Web-programming blocks from which Popfly users could pick, including Flickr, Windows Live Spaces, Virtual Earth and news company blocks.A notice on the Popfly beta web page confirms the services might be shut down subsequent month:“Thanks for stopping by. Unfortunately, on August 24th, 2009, the Popfly service will probably be discontinued, all resources will probably be taken down, and access to your Popfly account, including games and mashups, will cease.”In a July 16 note from the Popfly team on its blog, Microsoft officials are advising those who still interested in “express(ing) your creativity and pursuing a path to software development” to check out other Microsoft tools and products, like Microsoft XNA, Microsoft Kodu and Microsoft;s Web Platform Installer.Microsoft isn;t providing (publicly, at least) any reason for the Popfly shutdown. I;d guess it;s a victim of budget cuts. If I hear more,
Office 2010 Activation, I;ll update this post. Todd Bishop is confirming Popfly;s demise is due to economic concerns.
(Thanks to “Vasudevg” for the Popfly pointer via his tweet.)