I have read comments here and by commentators elsewhere, trying to find some ray of hope. I am now absolutely convinced that there is no synergy - none at all.
But then isn't it typical? A company is small, grows fast, succeeds, profitable, goes public, become a whore at the mercy of the wall street, and tried to 'diversify'. Diversification is the worst thing a company can do - it loses focus. Paypal was the best acquisition that Ebay made - perfectly synergistic. Adding a chatroom, or a VoIP is easy these days if eBay wants to help their base - but not worth buying a company at this cost.
Mark my words - it will either sell off, or shut down this operation 3 years after acquisition - if it happens.
There are several micropayment systems that exist today - in 2005. They are all based on the concept of 'aggregation'. It is based on the theory that consumers will buy enough in a period of say a month, to justify such transactions. Some companies that do this are Peppercoin, Clickandbuy, Bitpass (though bitpass is based more on prepaid).
Slashdot Mirror
I have read comments here and by commentators elsewhere, trying to find some ray of hope. I am now absolutely convinced that there is no synergy - none at all. But then isn't it typical? A company is small, grows fast, succeeds, profitable, goes public, become a whore at the mercy of the wall street, and tried to 'diversify'. Diversification is the worst thing a company can do - it loses focus. Paypal was the best acquisition that Ebay made - perfectly synergistic. Adding a chatroom, or a VoIP is easy these days if eBay wants to help their base - but not worth buying a company at this cost. Mark my words - it will either sell off, or shut down this operation 3 years after acquisition - if it happens.
There are several micropayment systems that exist today - in 2005. They are all based on the concept of 'aggregation'. It is based on the theory that consumers will buy enough in a period of say a month, to justify such transactions. Some companies that do this are Peppercoin, Clickandbuy, Bitpass (though bitpass is based more on prepaid).
One alternative I have seen - Click&Buy (www.clickandbuy.com). Apple iTunes uses it in Europe. New in USA.