Some people are wondering if recent photo sharing companies acquisition (Flickr, Snapfish, Photosite, Heypix!) are due to the "2000 internet bubble revival" or if this photo sharing application could lead to a real business model. I think photo sharing gets a true business model. Let me show you why.
First, digital photo camera sales have strongly increased this last 3 years, which means many people have just started with digital photo. This trend is still going up (think about camera phones as well).
Second, since the blogging community has emerged, people have discovered photoblogs, which is the first photo sharing step. It is really easy to share digital photos on your blogs (I recommend you to have a look at the Typepad blogging solution if you don't get your blog yet). Camera phone users are even sending their digital photos to their moblogs in real time, just to offer their readers real time photo sharing.
Is online photo sharing such a hit for the moment ? well, I can't say photo sharing is as popular as the messenger application is. But it will be, for sure. Since the creation of photography, people have always show their photos to their friends, family, colleagues, etc. How many times did you go at a family dinner where your mother ask you to see your last holiday trip photographies ?
Now photography is digital, and you will probably get your mother happy if you can show her your digital photos. But you will need online photo sharing for that.
So photo sharing should be the next killer application. The photo sharing business model has not been proved yet, it is true. But it will. No matter how because a killer application is always profitable. As a crashy entrepreneur told me one day : "get customers first, then think how to make them profitable..."
Flickr is not the last internet bubble company, but the first real photo sharing success in the US...and PixVillage could be the next one :-)