Pownce to Close December 15, 2008

The big news this week is that SixApart (owners of the TypePad and Moveable Type blogging applications) purchased the microblogging site, Pownce. As of December 15, 2008, Pownce will close, and users will no longer be able to access their accounts, however, tools have been put in place to help users export their existing data. Pownce Pro users are also being given the option to set up a free TypePad account for one year (after one year, monthly fees will be required as with all TypePad accounts).

The team behind Pownce is moving into the SixApart team, so don't be surprised if something new and different comes out of the relationship in 2009. With Wordpress pulling more market share from other blogging application providers everyday, SixApart needs to do something to differentiate its products from the competition. At the same time, Twitter has been growing fast and strong in the microblogging application market. A SixApart/Pownce pairing might be just what the doctor ordered.

What do you think?