February 09, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Yahoo Inc. said Thursday that it was taking down a prototype Web site called Pipes the same day it was launched. The problem? The site -- aimed at allowing developers to drag and drop multiple Internet data sources such as RSS feeds to create new "mashup" applications -- got more attention than the company expected forcing Yahoo to take it down to increase capacity.
The company, in a statement said: "Thanks to Tim O'Reilly, who called it a 'milestone in the history of the Internet.' But our goal was really just to get developers to test it, play with it and give us feedback. Our pipes are, so to speak, clogged."
The site had an initial set of modules to allow users to assemble personalized information sources out of existing Web services and data feeds, Yahoo said Wednesday on the site. Pipes outputs standard RSS 2.0 so users can subscribe to and read pipes in their favorite aggregator, according to Yahoo.
Juan Carlos Perez, of the IDG News Service, contributed to this story.
