The lifetime hosting was clearly never going to work. Even when they launched it, anyone with any sense - and me - knew it.
But it got them cash and publicity, and didn’t kill them when they cancelled it, so, on balance, it made their business possible
Here is an old, historical thread that gives some context:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4391669
I have a hazy recollection of their being part of the "free thumper" startup program that Sun Microsystems offered, briefly, and then later, blowing up one of those thumpers and losing a whole clouds worth of data... here it is:
https://adtmag.com/articles/2008/01/21/strongspaces-10day-cr...
Later, they were briefly (in)famous for voiding everyones lifetime shared hosting agreements:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TextDrive
"Customer backlash to the announcement turned out to be fierce."