Slashdot Mirror


Apple Rumored To Want To Buy Twitter

OSXGlitch writes "A post on TechCrunch this morning extends the rumor that Apple wants to buy Twitter with part of their massive cash reserve (estimated at nearly $29B). The Twitterverse is alive with speculation that the price being discussed is $700 million. This goes against reports that Twitter's founders aren't interested in selling, and that they estimate the value of the company at around $250 million. Two questions: How do we all feel about the possibility of Apple owning Twitter? And, can Twitter decline an offer that is nearly three times their estimated worth?"

26 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. One thing is for certain... by randombilly · · Score: 2, Funny

    It would, at the very least, make for a much better Tweet App on my iPhone....

    1. Re:One thing is for certain... by Macrat · · Score: 4, Funny
      Yeah, but you only got the lonely losers who read Twitter.

      All the really interesting people were at the real parties.

  2. Think of the ads.... by mevets · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hello, this is a yahoo and I'm a twit...

  3. Re:Value based on what, exactly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Datamining, cuntbucket.

  4. Re:I will quit twitter by Animaether · · Score: 5, Funny

    your post is true both ways ;)

    <QuantumG> I will quit twitter
    <Twitter> and nothing of value will be lost

  5. Twitter = Narcissistic dog snot by Verminator · · Score: 3, Funny

    First Steve kills the Newton.

    Then, MacBooks with no FireWire.

    Now this.

    OK, OK, we get it already. You hate us.

    --
    "The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." - Tacitus
  6. Re:I will quit twitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    i could offer you $50 to sell me your genitals

    and nothing of value will be lost.

  7. A good idea in theory by Chasmyr · · Score: 1, Funny

    iTwit anyone?

  8. Re:The Guardian says this is hot air by Earthquake+Retrofit · · Score: 5, Funny

    What happened to the good ol days of Apple speculative rumors, when the rumors were at least plausible?

    kdawson?

    --
    Fifty years of Yippie! 1968-2018
  9. Re:Twitter - "triumph of humanity" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...

    Either that or I'm an old fart.

    your nick confirm the second option

    --
    eating bats rules !

  10. Re:The Unofficial Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyc by darth_MALL · · Score: 3, Funny

    Can you pare that down to 140 chars pls?

  11. Re:The Guardian says this is hot air by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think Apple and Twitter are a perfect fit.

    I think Microsoft and Twitter are a perfect fit.

    There, fixed it for you.

    New rumour:

    "Microsoft, after cutting another 3,000 workers today, announced that they will be buying Twitter, the sms service that doesn't know how to make money, with the savings. In a cooperative deal with Disney, it will now be rebranded as TweetyPie Live, and will include such features as Microsoft Office integration.

    As Steve Balmer said, "We're excited about this deal. Now you'll be able to update your spreadsheet literally in a tweet. And for all those laid-off Microsofties, you'll be able to dynamically update your resumes from the next version of Word, provided you respect the license not to tweet anything bad or derogatory, or publish negative benchmarks, or say that I need deodorant as much as RMS does.

    We're also going to integrate it with Microsoft Live Search so that we can use Microsoft AdVantage to generate more pay-per-click revenue from the tweet stream. And we'll import the smilies from MS - Messenger. And give it a ribbon bar. And embed it in your car mp3 player, so you can tweet-n-drive. This will be big! It has the potential to be the next Zune!

  12. Re:I will quit twitter by knappe+duivel · · Score: 2, Funny

    That makes you a twitterquiter

  13. Re:Don't care. by zmollusc · · Score: 2, Funny

    Some would say the twitters are the legion of dumb.

    --
    They whose government reduces their essential liberties for temporary security, receive neither liberty nor security.
  14. Re:Business Plan by Mr.+Underbridge · · Score: 4, Funny

    So how much would that make goatse worth?

    Let's just say its customer retention rate is very, very low. I'd pay $10 for it.

  15. wut by copponex · · Score: 3, Funny

    I blve we r the smartest gen ever! My parents r dum and read 2$ newspprs 4 hours. I can read 30 secs on tw and get same info 4 0$ on my cpu!

  16. news flash! by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cupertino, CA, May 5, 2009 - Apple computer is rumored to be buying several flattened cigarette butts on the northwest corner of Castro St. and Central Expressway, in Mountain View, CA for $650 million. The cigarette butts are approximately 40 cm from the nearest curb edge. A squashed aluminum can, possibly a beer can, is in the gutter nearby. A paper bag with the partially wrapped remains of a beef burrito are also lying in close proximity to the cigarette butts, but do not appear to be part of the deal. In any event, a crow has been attempting to unwrap the burrito during most of the morning, presumably to abscond with the remains. Apple spokespersons declined to discuss the deal on the record, but it was made known later that the cigarette butts were in the middle of Silicon Valley, and therefore extremely valuable for that reason alone. One of the cigarette butts reportedly has lipstick stains, but that has not yet been confirmed.

  17. Re:twitterverse? by Clandestine_Blaze · · Score: 4, Funny

    It must have been someone from the blogosphere *ducks*

  18. Re:I will quit twitter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    And twitter's advertising budget is HUUUUGE!!!!

  19. Re:I will quit twitter by MeatBag+PussRocket · · Score: 5, Funny

    isin't being pedantic like being redundant, only more annoying?

    --
    i wage a holy war against the apostrophe.
  20. Re:The Guardian says this is hot air by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Both are completely pointless and trendy? There are better ways to get the job done without using either? Both user bases have an attention span of less than 140 characters?

  21. Re:Value based on what, exactly? by benjamin.haley · · Score: 2, Funny

    Twitter is the worlds best data source for modeling breakfast preferences. Do you realize how many advertising dollars will soon be pouring in from Capt'n Crunch and Count Chocula?

  22. Apple wants the sockpuppets by Culture20 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Are none of you seeing the big picture? Apple doesn't want to buy Twitter, the micro-blog service, they want to buy Twitter, the slashdot user. The actual GUY, not the username. They want a slave with a bajillion slashdot sockpuppets to moderate in articles just like this one.

  23. Re:Was getting bored with Twitter anyway by timholman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or to put it another way, twitter is the sound of millions of people collectively discovering they have nothing important to say.

    Have you ever watched shows about tribes of baboons or chimps on PBS? And how they spend so much time grooming each other by picking the lice out of each others' hair?

    That's the mental image I get with any social network site. Lots of monkeys, picking the lice out of each others' hair. Except with Twitter, the monkeys shriek about who has found the biggest and juiciest lice, right before they eat them.

  24. Re:Value based on what, exactly? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2, Funny

    But when you look past the bullshit, it's just the same shit OVER AND OVER with nothing of value offered whatsoever. People linking to already existing news stories. People retweeting non-sourced rumors. You could subscribe to a variety of RSS news feeds and get the same (but better) information, or go down to the local bar and listen to drunk guy offer his opinion.

    So, like CNN then?

  25. Re:I will quit twitter by cdrudge · · Score: 2, Funny

    Could it be a branding/goodwill tool that also helps them drive users to their search?

    Right. Because Google really needed YouTube to drive people to their search.