Oink shuts down

Kevin Rose's startup mill, Milk, is shuttering its first product, the item review app Oink. The app was only live for three months.

Oink was well-reviewed here and elsewhere. Users who became attached to the app (or, like me, who reviewed it seriously) may not have been fully aware that Rose himself wasn't committed to it. As the shut-down notice on the Oink.com page says.

We started Milk Inc. to rapidly build and test out new ideas. Oink was our first test and, in preparing to move onto the next project, we've decided to shut it down to help focus our efforts.

Rose has not publicly said what Milk's next product will be, nor how the company will convince new users that whatever it is not also a "test."

A simple export feature is now available and will let users easily recover the Oink reviews and photos.

My take? I'm bitter. I rated this thing highly and expected more commitment from the company that made it. Although, honestly, two things ease the sting:

First, while I liked this app on first review, I confess I have not used it in two months. Foursquare and Facebook check-ins do the job. They're not as granular, but these apps are part of a more typical social workflow.

Second, if Oink was never going to take off, and Rose and his team knew it, I admire their guts for pulling the plug so fast.