Slashdot Mirror
Facebook To Buy WhatsApp
Facebook has announced an agreement to buy WhatsApp, the mobile messaging platform used by over 450 million people. The deal involves $4 billion in cash and an additional $12 billion in Facebook stock. They say WhatsApp will remain independent; its headquarters won't move, and it will continue to exist separately from Facebook's Messenger app. Mark Zuckerberg indicated they will focus on growth: 'Over the next few years, we're going to work hard to help WhatsApp grow and connect the whole world. We also expect that WhatsApp will add to our efforts for Internet.org, our partnership to make basic internet services affordable for everyone.' On WhatsApp's blog, they say, "Here’s what will change for you, our users: nothing. WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently."
The only thing worse than beta is all these anti-beta's out there.
We also expect that WhatsApp will add to our efforts for Internet.org, our partnership to make basic internet services affordable for everyone
Yet another attempt to control the Internet.
They're coming. And they will not stop until they own it or destroy it.
The Internet is humanity's last chance, boys and girls. We lose it and we're looking at 1000 years of darkness.
$16 billion for a messaging app? The end is nigh...
That's pronounced what-a-sap, right?
449.99 million people ditched WhatsApp.
Not for long.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
WhatsApp is dead... WhatsNext?
Billions for a goddamn chat app? It might be the trend of times, but this is nothing short of ridiculous.
Even my government's never-finishing (and never-properly-working) IT projects seem cheap by comparison.
Remember where the scores on pinball machines were sane then one day I saw the ST TNG pinball and the score was like in the millions. Was like WTF? The pricing on some of these virtual companies is the same.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
... UNINSTALL! I refuse to have a Facebook account and if Whatsapp starts making it mandatory to have one, then I'll go back to plain old SMS.
$16B!! Are they nucking futs? It feels to me – as someone who worked through InetBubbleBurst 1.0 - like FB is flailing at something, anything, using the huge cash cache it’s currently sitting on in a feeble and misdirected attempt at non-relevance. Just proof that huge dollars huge brains.
That's why the many millions and billions. We rather need news that financially measures in micro-mills.
I'm serious.
I have never heard of "WhatsApp" ...450 million users?
Time to delete my WhatsApp app.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
For a while I got so much SPAM Phishing mail from this site. Really think its a bad service and Facebook wants it for its data mining I guess.
I read the web site, and I still don't understand what this web site is all about. Is it really just yet another messaging platform designed to get around SMS messaging charges? Am I missing something obvious?
1. There are tons and tons of ways to send messages to people last I checked. Why is this one worth "$16B"?
2. Who still pays for SMS messages? I've had unlimited texting plans for the better part of a decade, and they're cheaper than most people's cable TV bills. Are text messages significantly expensive outside of the US?
I don't respond to AC's.
Good job cashing out while you can! Devs, owners, its time to go on and make that new thing you've been really wanting to do. Or do something philanthropic.
You're not fooling anyone. We know you're going to ditch the moment Facebook makes doing what you're doing now annoying. Why stick around when they just handed you piles of 'fuck you' money?
I try soo hard to stay away from that privacy disaster and yet they keep finding ways to invade my life somehow... Does anyone have any data messaging app for ios/droid that also allows for encryption?
Well, instead of making this pointless post you could've searched for it in the interwebs. That is, if you really didn't know it in first place.
You also must not be a regular reader of /. as there were a couple of headlines about security issues and other things.
..anybody know if these (number of deletions per app) are available anywhere?
for sure, FB and TheCompanyFormerlyKnownAsWhatsApp won't be publishing these particular numbers anytime soon, but, I guarantee you, next 24 Hours will probably be a record for number of single-app removals.
It is not like IM was invented yesterday you know? Some of us have better things to do than figure out what's the irrelevant app of the day.
And 4-digit UIDs are still available!
Kid-proof tablet..
Yeah! Better things! Like posting on Slashdot, amirite guys?!
You've never heard of it? Are you still using your carrier's txt plan? Lolz
Why wouldn't I? I can text anyone anywhere in the world for free, and I don't have to worry about whether we're using the same service and if they actually still check that service or blah blah blah. And services like WhatsApp are tied to phone numbers anyways, so WhatsApp users are just a subset of people with numbers I could text to.
I remember sigs. Oh, a simpler time!
Younger people ( say 35 ) have been fleeing Facebook in droves, because it's been around a while, and not "cool" when your PARENTS have joined, friended you, friended your friends, and then gossip more to you about what they're doing than you know yourself. Because they're old and have no life. I deal with this every day. Needless to say, Mark is keeping 'Whatsapp' separate because he knows that Facebook will be toast within the next 10 years and he doesn't want to drag this investment down by attaching it to an ailing brand. Wise move.
Is that software even secure as of today? Last time I was reading, it used reverse IMEI as it's password for message encryption, and there has been software to imitate another user, exploiting this flaw.
Might try another IM app, if I'll ever need one (IRC is all I need). ::B
You're still using texts and have a carrier? What was it like having some of your classmates catch polio?
When is fuckedcompany.com coming back?
Or is it just too sad to see that the internet is basically ran by 1/1000th of the amount of manpower in the 90's with 1000X the power/capacity?
Not having a Facebook account is no guarantee that Facebook will not contain data on you. If your idiot friends use Facebook and all of their contacts are harvested or they tag you in their photos, Facebook will eventually fill in the dots for human word of mouth. That's what Facebook ultimately wants to be able to do, map human communication paths. That's the gold they mine. Right now, we have an environment with the phone companies monitoring SMS messages and keeping that data gold (with the exception of government agencies). A messaging app that ties into all of their other products, and allows mining that data is just another way for Facebook to fill in the blanks and their pockets. I don't like it, but its a good move for suckerburg to continue to fill his pockets.
will be that WHEN the bubble blows, only shareholders will be left to hold the bag, not taxpayers (except maybe through bad investment into their retirement funds).
Why would I want to join a site where all of the other idiots that keep posting Beta messages over stories have gone to?
Good riddance, I say. Slashdot has been pretty good over the last week or so.
Good luck with your proto-Digg. You're gonna need it.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The new and exciting "Smoke Signal" app. 1 puff signals "danger", 2 puffs for the "all clear" and of course 3 puffs for "party at my place".
Nope! I'm using my google chat that i've had for years. Not using their client, mind. Beejive on iOS. The best part is, I can move from phone to computer.
People who tie themselves to a single-client chat implementation deserve whatever happens to them.
All my friends moved off Google chat because the service was so atrocious, messages frequently got 'lost' (never delivered to recipient) and the inability to share multimedia was a PITA.
They all use WhatsApp or Facebook now.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen are not jewish.
Glad that I don't use WhatsApp.
The user base is not that significant (at least waay off $4bn worth), considering the free period and the fact that is doesn't bring nothing new/hard to clone to the table (eg. Viber has more features). On the other hand, Facebook is buying some pretty good expertise on how to handle live chat systems with Erlang at a global level. This alone may be worth the money.
All my friends moved off Google chat because the service was so atrocious, messages frequently got 'lost' (never delivered to recipient) and the inability to share multimedia was a PITA.
They all use WhatsApp or Facebook now.
Normal people still use email.
And it's a horrorshow - it takes the worst of Slashdot and the worst of Slashdot Beta, mixes them up and... the sum is worse than the parts.
It is not like IM was invented yesterday you know? Some of us have better things to do than figure out what's the irrelevant app of the day.
I've never heard of it either and I'm not that old, maybe it's only popular in certain regions? One of those third world fads?
Old people still use email.
FTFY
So Jews started successful Internet companies, and you didn't. Hmmmm....so Jews are smarter than you, is that what you're saying?
Put your money where your mouth is?
I currently live in Asia. Whatsapp is very, very popular over here.
A good number of my European contacts are also using it.
I don't know how popular it is in the USA.
I find it a very useful piece of software, one of the most used apps on my iphone.
Somewhere in an office in Seongnam, several members of the KakaoTalk team just crapped their pants.
Just like the DMV? They have every eligible driver's face/name/addy/gender... Why doesn't facebook buy that database, too?
It's worse.
Prior to social networks we had some solace knowing that many third-world countries do not keep good computer records and have close to null snooping because people just weren't into e-commerce / had language barriers / found no real way to get their daily news online instead of local TV and papers.
Enter FB tagging and its inconvenient side-effect of transcending borders when you take your camera overseas. Those unfortunate enough to know you are thus entered into the DB even if they never had the desire to come live in the USA with a DMV ID card + associated NSA snooping. Kinda reminds me of how while Friendster started as a US business, within a couple years it was like 40% filipino users.
It will force my Mom to open a Facebook account. :(
Game over
$19,000,000,000 for an app that does not make money and has 32 employees. IMHO it shows that Facebook is slowly panicking.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
Here's a map (which is about a year old, to be fair): http://cdn.iphoneincanada.ca/w...
You'll note that WhatsApp doesn't have a whole lot of usage in the US. It's quite popular in Europe and the South America.
I already have one, but thanks just the same.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
It is not like IM was invented yesterday you know? Some of us have better things to do than figure out what's the irrelevant app of the day.
I've never heard of it either and I'm not that old, maybe it's only popular in certain regions? One of those third world fads?
I get the impression that it is popular in *cough* certain countries *cough* where the telcos freely rape their customers over text messages and mobile data.
Where I live (Sweden), I get unlimited texting and nearly unlimited (5GB/mo) data for about 50 bucks a month. Since this is a very typical plan from a very typical Scandinavian carrier (Telenor), I am not surprised that I've neither seen nor heard of this app before.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
"I know a Jew on the other side of town who has a much nicer house than mine. Therefore, all Jews are rich, greedy criminals who are out to get me."
That's some logic for ya. (I guess.)
You spend 50$ a month? And you say that other countries' telcos are raping their customers? Here in Italy I pay 6 EUR a month and I have 120 minutes of calling, 120 SMS, and 2GB data. Not unlimited, but quite enough (for me). And even before I had a flat plan I did not pay all that much!
19 billion for an instant messaging app!! surely didn't see this coming.
Honestly, there should be a viable, easy-to-use alternative to Facebook which respects your privacy and doesn't have shady dealings with a government and isn't run by a functionally retarded man-child. But if there is one, well I don't know about it. And if I don't know about it, then 95% of people don't know about it.
Same with WhatsApp. It's very useful, but this isn't advanced AI here: it's pretty clear what it does and how it does it. Where is the good, user-friendly, open-source alternative?
I'm also pissed here because I actually liked WhatsApp as an app and respected their "mission statement" - was even willing to pay for it in exchange for (what I thought) was a little privacy. But in the end they turned out to be whores, to Facebook of all companies, for whom I have a particularly acute contempt.
My Soylent UID is even lower than my Slashdot one :-)
Soylent looks great TBH. I can actually see myself switching over if Slashdot's owners are determined to ruin all that is good about their web site with a crappy "modern looking" redesign.
Hello, Telegram. https://telegram.org/
Make sure your friends know about this app, It needs critical mass, nobody is using it.
If I were a lobbyist, I would LOVE the entire population to be made of idiots like you. One points out a statistical anomaly, and you react whining about jealousy. Perfect!
Can anyone suggest alternatives? Free or paid, but equivalent functionality?
Wth? Does someone actually have to pay for incoming texts? So basically someone could just bleed you dry by texting you a lot? Why would anyone sign a contract like that?
ever heard of irc?
Text messages are not more expensive, but whatsapp is just really handy. You can form groups, and it's basically like any chatroom after that. Every phone has their own text message app, whatsapp is the same on everything.
Don't you remember being young? I sure know I was better than anyone. Better and wiser and cooler than anyone over 30 for sure. I wouldn't have had my mom listening in on my conversations. The kids these days won't either. So when mom invades facebook the conversation moves elsewhere.
as alternative stop.
we would like to inform you stop.
that there is a new more secure solution out there stop.
it's open it's free it's stop.
Telegram.
I am not quite sure that the a single phone number info worth ~$9 cash and ~$26 in stock. This seems to be quite high and this is the only valuable information FB is getting from this deal.