TextDrive announced the Mixed Grill special offer in 2006, combining three products from their family for a one-time payment of $499. “Perfect for a smart small business or smart individuals of any size,” they said. They were not wrong.
What you got
One payment bought a bundle of three services:
- TextDrive Web Hosting: 2 GiB disk space, up to 15 top-level domains, 20 Gig bandwidth/mo, up to 20 databases, and unlimited mailboxes and subdomains.
- Strongspace Storage: 9 GiB of storage with 3 upload users and unlimited read-only users for backup room.
- Joyent Suite: A complete web-based application suite including email, files, contacts, calendar, and all future updates for up to 5 users.
How long
“As long as we exist.”
Four words, reused. They debuted with the VC200 in 2004, made a return with the Three Martini Lunch in 2006, and turned up here, on the Mixed Grill, the same year. By then it wasn’t so much a guarantee as a house style.
Joyent cancelled the lifetime accounts in August 2012. Dean relaunched TextDrive independently afterward and tried to keep faith with what was left of the promise; that run lasted about a year and a half. TextDrive closed for good in March 2014.
Further reading
The original offer is preserved at the Wayback Machine. The TextDrive memorial documents the full story.