The Case For Apple Buying Facebook

The article makes the case that Jobs has been hinting that he wants to actually spend some of the $51 billion Apple has been sitting on, and that Facebook is a likely candidate. Considering how thin the Ping social network is, and the integration issues the two companies have had, there are some good reasons for such a deal. And a heck of a lot of reasons why not.

Comments

Yep..

[Palmsie]

Sounds like its time to find a new social media website.

Re:Yep..

[theaveng]

So negative!

Sounds like a good plan to me, and maybe Apple would have the know-how to stop all these privacy leaks.

Re:Yep..

[betterunixthanunix]

What makes you think Apple is interested in your privacy? Apple is interested in money, and when it comes to Facebook, you are the product, not the customer.

Re:Yep..

[MichaelSmith]

Its arguably the most long lived social website.

Re:Yep..

[Yvan256]

Apple can't have caused the housing crash, Apple-made houses have no windows which makes them crash-proof.

Not that stupid

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

Apple tends to buy things that will make them money. I really doubt Facebook would ever make any money for Apple. (Or anyone for that matter.)

Re:Not that stupid

[Darkness404]

...Except for the fact that Facebook has an elevated self-worth at the moment. Social networks really only have a lifespan of a few years before they are no longer used by the masses.

If Apple wanted to buy Facebook, they should have done it a few years ago, or perhaps a few years in the future. If Apple buys it now, they have a very limited amount of time before the feature is still a feature.

FB has very little IP, the only thing they have is users and brand recognition but MySpace also had that but essentially lost it.

Re:Not that stupid

[antek9]

Problem with that is: Farmville (like a lot of games on FB) is a flash game, and Flash would have to go if FB would become an Apple asset. And, while I know that "there's an app for that" (TM), it doesn't seem likely that Steve could convince Zynga to go all HTML5 just for the fun of it. Well, not against the Google millions already poured inside Zynga, that is...

Sounds Good

[SilverHatHacker]

Let Microsoft buy Adobe, then let Apple buy Facebook. That way, they're all in one place when we nuke them from orbit.

simple...

[syngularyx]

Usually Apple buys small, "cheap" and useful companies and Facebook doesn't belong to any of these categories.

Re:Daydreaming

[Trent Hawkins]

100 billion dollars [raise pinkie to lip]

Maybe Facebook would get a real UI

[jandrese]

So there are a million reasons this would be a terrible idea, but there is one potential benefit: Facebook could finally receive the badly needed usability revamp that it has needed for years now. If there's one company that knows how to make interfaces, it's Apple, and the confusing mess that is Facebook is long long overdue for a major reworking.

They could buy DELL

[iinlane]

Buy Dell and close it down. Just to make Michael Dell eat his words.

Netscape, AOL, Facebook

[Toe, The]

Once upon a time, there was this amazing company called Netscape. It was so fantastic that this other company called AOL bought it for over $4 billion.

Later on, there was this amazing company called AOL. It was so fantastic that this other company called Time Warner believed it was valued it at something like a quarter trillion dollars, so merged with it.

Later on, there was this amazing company called Facebook...

Doubt it

[macwhizkid]

Strategic partnership, sure, but outright purchase? No way. Sure, it's temping to consider the ways Facebook could interface with iOS, but Facebook is valued somewhere in the neighborhood of $30-35B, and Apple only has $50B cash on hand. Facebook is too expensive for what it is -- a neatly designed hack for people to make their own web pages and connect with others. The value of the company lies in the number of active accounts, not the technology itself. And for Apple, a technology company which already has an accomplished marketing department and more publicity than it can ever use, the purchase just doesn't have enough value.

Besides, Facebook has already displaced Google in the areas the two compete in. There would be nothing to add to that particular rat race, but the danger that Google could focus on a single enemy instead of several. Yhe only reason to buy a company is to harness the potential innovation and future success when integrated with your own. Buying a fully-fledge corporation relying on something as fickle as consumer taste is a terrible idea.

Why didn't I think of this?

[MBCook]

It's ingenious! How could it not work?

Just like when AOL bought Llamasoft. No, you know what would be a better example? When Fox bought MySpace. That worked out well, right?

This is moronic. This is "I need column inches, and Apple has money and gets pageviews, and Facebook gets page views, so I'll write a column..." nonsense.

What would Apple get out of this? A big messy architecture (in maintaining all those servers, integrating OS X with FB)? A giant target on it's back for even more privacy lawsuits? I don't see any value to Apple in buying Facebook. It would make a ton more sense to just buy up some good ISVs or more hardware companies to help design their products in house.

Re:Daydreaming

[Cwix]

I think Steve wont be interested unless they come pre-installed with the laser beams.

Facebook + Apple = ...

[zooblethorpe]

The new, improved! Fapple!

Yah, I'd want a different social media website too. And a shower. Yech.

Stretch that dollar.

[LaminatorX]

They could take half of that cash and buy Yahoo, Adobe, and Novell. Why mess with Facebook?

Your data is safe with Apple

[David Gerard]

Facebook staff have been amazed to discover that when Facebook passes users' complete details to application developers and advertisers, some of the partner companies might accidentally let slip the information in some manner.

"We are appalled at this information leak," said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as he took a break from his personal RSS feed of drunk women's tits posted to his service. "But I can assure you that we have sternly suggested to everyone involved that they take somewhat greater care not to get caught, and maintain a serious demeanor when rolling around in the great big pit filled with money in their basement."

"I'm horrified and outraged," said office worker Brenda Busybody, 43 (IQ), "that stuff I put on the Internet is on the Internet. It violates everything I expect. I want privacy when I'm calling my boss a useless fuckstick to the entire world, all my coworkers and my boss himself. And when I'm playing a bit of FarmVille before we nick off down the pub."

Privacy advocates are working on Diaspora, a security-enhanced social network so far populated by Linux users who cryptographically sign every update about which episode of Babylon 5 they just finished watching alone in their parents' basement. "START PGP KEY BLOCK!" said open source software advocate Hiram Nerdboy, 17. "WE WILL PROTECT YOUR FREEDOMS!" The next version of Diaspora will allow users to list more than three friends, should there be any demand whatsoever for such a feature.

Facebook works on the now-standard "Web 2.0" business model: 1. Brutally sodomise the personal privacy of anyone who comes within a mile of your service and say "hey baby, I'm sorry" every time you're busted. 2. Sell ads.

If Apple bought Facebook

[Rix]

• You could only view it on Safari
• Only iPhones would have a mobile client
• You'd have to update your status through iTunes
• It would cost $99/year
• You could only access it through AT&T's ISP
• If you switched computers, all your photos would have to be reuploaded
• You'd have to sign an NDA

Re:facebook already past it's prime

[bill_mcgonigle]

Both my wife and myself have deleted our facebook accounts. Last time I was in that situation it was with Myspace. Remember Myspace?

What would give you the idea that you and your wife are leading indicators rather than anomalous outliers?