Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ClemyNX View Post


    Too bad. I'm going to stop using it then. I don't want my pictures to be used by FB.



    I agree. I'll delete it and won't use it again !
  • Reply 22 of 71
    dickprinterdickprinter Posts: 1,060member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    I am pleased to say that Facebook doesn't know a single thing about me, and they never will.



    I hate to break it to you but if you have any friends on Facebook and they have your email in their address book then Facebook knows about you.
  • Reply 23 of 71
    brutus009brutus009 Posts: 356member
    Interesting news following that ugly bit about iPhone users bashing Instagram's Android release.



    Even as Apple grows to be so huge, their users continue to identify with the idea of being in a "special club." I think Apple maintains this by consistently offering the best experience within their products. While this attribute is only subjective truth (and heatedly debated across the blogosphere), the ideal is shared almost unanimously by all users.



    Android's user base is as fragmented as their OS: they all use Android for different reasons. In fact, the only consistently shared reason I have seen between Adroid users is that they refuse to buy Apple products on "principle."
  • Reply 24 of 71
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Techboy View Post


    Are they even generating revenue??? Not that I care if Facebook wants to throw away their money, just saying.



    This is all abuot the IPO coming up, and face it, on Wall Street 2.0, you dont need to make actual money to have a hot as hell ipo - groupon anyone?
  • Reply 25 of 71
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Instagram for $1 Billion?



    NeXT Inc and all it's IP for $400 Million.



    Yes, today's 20 somethings really know value. NOT!



    Yeah, even going by a desktop market of 1 million units/year with $100 OS, it would have been worth more.



    It possibly wasn't as sure a bet though as it depended on uptake. Instagram, as mentioned, already has over 30 million accounts so to justify the cost, they only have to make just over $30 per user.



    Facebook makes it's money from advertising so say they get 50c per click from advertisers for 10% of the subscribers per day. How long before they make their billion back? Less than 2 years. Their subscriber base will of course grow when it's advertised on Facebook.
  • Reply 26 of 71
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Welcome to the second coming of the dot bomb.
  • Reply 27 of 71
    freshmakerfreshmaker Posts: 532member
    Not really sure why FB would make this move as I don't know how they're going to generate revenue through it, but I like FB and Instagram so hopefully it's a good marriage.
  • Reply 28 of 71
    prof. peabodyprof. peabody Posts: 2,860member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Facebook announced on Monday that it has agreed to purchase Instagram, the maker of the popular photo sharing service for iPhone, for $1 billion. ...



    This seems like a really unwise purchase.



    A trendy "of the moment" photo app maker is worth a billion dollars? Why?



    it's just a bunch of cheesy old-timey filters and there are dozens of apps that can and do have the same features.



    It's also almost guaranteed to lose popularity over the long haul. People want their photos to look like retro 60's, 70's and 80's crap now, but why would anyone expect this desire to be a permanent thing?
  • Reply 29 of 71
    recroninrecronin Posts: 11member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    I am pleased to say that Facebook doesn't know a single thing about me, and they never will.



    As for Instagram, well good for them. If somebody can make an app and then sell their company for a billion dollars a short time afterwards, then I'd say that's a decent achievement. Personally, I don't use Instagram, as I'm not a retarded hipster and I'm not into taking crappy photos and then applying all sorts of dumb filters to them. But to each their own.



    From your single post, this forum along with the rest of the Internet now knows that:



    - you don't use Instagram

    - you don't use Facebook

    - products geared towards hipsters would likely not interest you



    And you probably:

    - have an interest in tech

    - have an interest in Apple, particularily in regards to your handle and signature



    That's going off just 1 of over 2,400 posts made by you.



    This information could potentially (if not already) be data mined by Google and sold to third parties such as Facebook. As a previous poster stated, Facebook can even recognize you in photos a friend may have posted that had you in it without even having been tagged manually and cross-referenced to anything else known about you in some server.



    Yes I'm doing a lot of what-if type scenarios that may seem far-fetched, but it's certainly possible to do even today. I'm sure the data can/will be used by parties outside the marketing industry as well.
  • Reply 30 of 71
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dickprinter View Post


    I hate to break it to you but if you have any friends on Facebook and they have your email in their address book then Facebook knows about you.



    I guess if somebody that I know has my email in their address book, then Facebook knows of my existence, or at least one of my email addresses, but I've never signed up or logged into Facebook, so hopefully they don't know anything more about me.
  • Reply 31 of 71
    noirdesirnoirdesir Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Facebook can find you in someone else's pics using their unique facial recognition implementation, something my son didn't like at all (altho he thought it was cool at first). He said a couple kids at school got in trouble for pictures their parents found in other kid's albums by just searching for them by their name, even tho their name was never mentioned in the picture descriptions. Facebook's software simply matched the images. With pictures often geo-tagged as well, combining your image with your name and profile could place you in a time and place without having to physically track you.



    A little disconcerting if you don't anticipate it IMO.



    Solution: Don't ever post pictures of people anywhere where search engines can find them unless it no problem at all for the people depicted for all the world to know what can be seen on those pictures. If I am attending a conference which has a public list of attendees, I don't mind if they post pictures of myself. I was there, it is public knowledge I was there, no problem at all. For all other kinds of images: just don't post them where a search engine can find them.
  • Reply 32 of 71
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Recronin View Post




    This information could potentially (if not already) be data mined by Google and sold to third parties such as Facebook. As a previous poster stated, Facebook can even recognize you in photos a friend may have posted that had you in it without even having been tagged manually and cross-referenced to anything else known about you in some server.



    Yes I'm doing a lot of what-if type scenarios that may seem far-fetched, but it's certainly possible to do even today. I'm sure the data can/will be used by parties outside the marketing industry as well.



    I don't disagree with your post at all. I have no doubt that companies like Google and Facebook will use whatever means, both legal and illegal, that they can to gather as much information as they can about anybody that they can.
  • Reply 33 of 71
    noirdesirnoirdesir Posts: 1,027member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Recronin View Post


    From your single post, this forum along with the rest of the Internet now knows that:



    - you don't use Instagram

    - you don't use Facebook

    - products geared towards hipsters would likely not interest you



    And you probably:

    - have an interest in tech

    - have an interest in Apple, particularily in regards to your handle and signature



    That's going off just 1 of over 2,400 posts made by you.



    This information could potentially (if not already) be data mined by Google and sold to third parties such as Facebook.



    Until Facebook starts their writing-style recognition software, all that information is only about a faceless nickname. If one cannot link that nickname to an actual person, no harm is done.



    (And my hope is that once the writing-style recognition software becomes common, writing-style obfuscation software will also become available. That, though, still leaves all the legacy posts, pre-writing-style obfuscation software to exploit.)
  • Reply 34 of 71
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Facebook can find you in someone else's pics using their unique facial recognition implementation, something my son didn't like at all (altho he thought it was cool at first). He said a couple kids at school got in trouble for pictures their parents found in other kid's albums by just searching for them by their name, even tho their name was never mentioned in the picture descriptions. Facebook's software simply matched the images. With pictures often geo-tagged as well, combining your image with your name and profile could place you in a time and place without having to physically track you.



    A little disconcerting if you don't anticipate it IMO.



    Although it is possible for Facebook to do that, it was my understanding that they only suggest who to tag so it is more likely that your son's friends were being tagged by others, not Facebook directly. And like always, it is difficult to keep a secret about anything especially if there is a photo of it. Those kids are just learning that the hard way. If Facebook automatically tagged people they would be in a heap of trouble. Can you imagine a stalker taking pictures of someone and then uploading them to Facebook to see if they can be automatically tagged to find out who they are.
  • Reply 35 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Although it is possible for Facebook to do that, it was my understanding that they only suggest who to tag so it is more likely that your son's friends were being tagged by others, not Facebook directly. And like always, it is difficult to keep a secret about anything especially if there is a photo of it. Those kids are just leaning that the hard way. If Facebook automatically tagged people they would be in a heap of trouble. Can you imagine a stalker taking pictures of someone and then uploading them to Facebook to see if they can be automatically tagged to find out who they are.



    exactly what is the difference if FB "suggests" the tag versus applies it itself?



    it's actually worse b/c not only does FB tag people without their consent, FB also gets a real human to validate and strengthen it's facial recognition algorithm.
  • Reply 36 of 71
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    I am pleased to say that Facebook doesn't know a single thing about me, and they never will.



    I'm not a Facebook user or member either but unless you're blocking scripts in addition to cookies, yes they probably do know a few things about you. IIRC Facebook code loads even with this site, tho I block all Facebook scripts thru Firefox No Scripts add-on.
  • Reply 37 of 71
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    I'm not a Facebook user or member either but unless you're blocking scripts in addition to cookies, yes they probably do know a few things about you. IIRC Facebook code loads even with this site, tho I block all Facebook scripts thru Firefox No Scripts add-on.



    I do have those scripts blocked. I currently have Ghostery, Adblock and Click2Flash enabled on my Safari browser.



    I am quite suspicious when I visit a site and all of a sudden I see scripts being blocked from Google, Facebook and a bunch of other information collection agencies.
  • Reply 38 of 71
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    ....The more they know about you the more accurate ads they serve you...



    You are totally right about that. Though when I look at the "targeted" ads that FB, goo or any of the others are serving up, I really doubt their business model. I have yet to see a "targeted" ad on FB, goo, amazon, or anywhere else that is aligned with my needs or interests.
  • Reply 39 of 71
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacVicta View Post


    Time to find an Instagram alternative.



    i'm with you on that, as well as everyone else who's deleting this app. too bad. it was kinda cool.

    i'm thinking piictu could be a good alternative.
  • Reply 40 of 71
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    It was just a few weeks ago that Tim Cook said he considered Facebook a friend to Apple and hopes they work more closely together. I can see the potential for some very upset iPhone/iPad owners if Apple builds in more robust Facebook support.
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