TechCrunch just posted a review of a service called Farkie. Farkie lets you grab content from the web-even if it isn’t packaged into a neat downloadable bundle on the website in question.
Farkie advertises itself as an easy way to grab content like videos and music from sites like YouTube and MySpace. You can also use it to download stylesheets and images. As you can see, it’s pretty straightforward-just give Farkie the URL of the site you are trying to grab content from, and it will bring up a list of what you can download and show you the different file formats you can save in. Wait a few minutes for it to convert your file, and you’re done.
The user interface needs some work. It’s not hard to figure out, but it’s busy and not attractive. There are similar services out there, so it doesn’t get a perfect score for innovation, either. Although, unlike the competition (File2HD), at least it isn’t advertising emo porn. However, it’s easy to use, convenient, free and useful for a variety of purposes.
Of course, not all of these purposes are legit. In fact, TechCrunch points out that Farkie may be in some trouble if the behemoth that is Google decides to crack down on them for making content from YouTube available for download. Until then, Farkie remains a useful and fun tool-just make sure you use it responsibly!
What do you think about Farkie’s business model? Do you think it’s sustainable? How long do you think the service will last?
Our Rating of Farkie
Categories:web
Farkie Review: Easliy Download videos and more http://ow.ly/98hF
RT @usefultools Farkie Review: Easliy Download videos and more http://ow.ly/98hF
RT @usefultools Farkie Review: Easliy Download videos and more http://ow.ly/98hF
I just went to Farkie, tried to download a blog post that I own at http://www.CompeteOnWeb.com, and had an interesting thing happen. They had a pop-up ad that came up right after I clicked “download” that forced me to complete a survey from CPALead.com (affiliate network).
I understand that they need to make some money on their site, but this completely ruined the user experience for me. Do they not have any other sustainable business model?
You mentioned, what do you think about their business model…sustainability….? At this point, I think it’s pretty sub-par. I’d love to use the service and would accept ad supported or (maybe) paid. But to interrupt the user experience with a completely unrelated affiliate program is crazy.
How annoying! That didn’t happen to me when I reviewed them-must be something new. Yes, I share your concern. You could always check out http://file2hd.com/-they offer a similar service.
[...] online, convert them to your desired file format, and download them. Basically, it’s like Farkie (which I reviewed months ago and is now calling itself Gazzump) , but it only grabs video and audio [...]
Nice little tool this.