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.
They have to make a lot more than that. They bought a company and its development team, not just source code. More to the point, they don't have 30 million paying customers.
The App is Free. Most people don't take kindly to a Free-->Pay service. They much prefer a perceived premium service for pay from the start.
Facebook will also not charge but amortize the cost through advertising.
We believe that the core of our product will always be free. There will be opportunities for consumers to buy extra add-ons like special filters, etc. However, we plan to experiment with different models as we grow and learn what special value we can provide to the community to make their collective experience more engaging, exciting and useful.
Assets:
Quote:
Who are your investors?
We raised a $500,000 seed round from Andreessen-Horowitz and Baseline Ventures, and a $7 million Series A from Benchmark Capital and a small group of angel investors. We?re very excited to be working with investors who have a proven track record and experience in the space with investments like Twitter and Foursquare.
Another Marc Andreessen bomb.
Let me guess, ``This will be for photos what Twitter is for short messaging.''
$622.5M in 2011 dollars. But hey, it's not a valid social .com acquisition unless you overpay.
About $250 M in 1996 dollars, which while less than the NeXT purchase still illustrates how overpriced this purchase is. Oh, and how sh*tty the dollar is.
Who says you can't have it all?
(Of course I believe that inflation is 1-2% a year, that's what the government says. If actual prices don't match that, it's because we're just buying the wrong things... like food, gas, and property. )
Apple has several Patents on this technology they can deploy for iOS. I find this purchase to be an insult to perspective buyers of the upcoming IPO.
Facebook is looking more and more like what it is--a 2012 Yahoo/Netscape Portal with Friends reconnecting and staying connected--nothing more, nothing less.
All Businesses paying Facebook for product advertisement and placement are wise to redirect the bulk of their brand back to their own domains.
I'm surprised Microsoft doesn't have "Old timey photo enhancer Live!" as part of Windows 7 or Bing. The old Microsoft would be all over that for fear of missing out.
The only way I'll continue using Instagram is if there is a strict separation and users are allowed to not have to share any photos on FB. Also, I don't want to have to change my login to be the same as my FB account.
Interesting to see some other folks deleting instagram. Thats the first thing I did when I read this. I have no interest in having any of my photos being available on Facebook. These days, there is no way you can be 100% private, but at least you can try to stop the obvious.
They have to make a lot more than that. They bought a company and its development team, not just source code. More to the point, they don't have 30 million paying customers.
The App is Free. Most people don't take kindly to a Free-->Pay service. They much prefer a perceived premium service for pay from the start.
Facebook will also not charge but amortize the cost through advertising.
The only way I'll continue using Instagram is if there is a strict separation and users are allowed to not have to share any photos on FB. Also, I don't want to have to change my login to be the same as my FB account.
For at least the first year FB will bury the opt out process so deep that people will just give up and accept it.
F U C K sake Apple! If you let Twitter slip away I won't forgive you. I have been tweeting you to buy Instagram for 6 months!
And just how would buying twitter make any sense for Apple? How is twitter going to make money? Sell ads?
Typical Twitterheads.. The lack of business insight and the inability to understand the long-term implications of their actions. Instant gratification. The future of our country is bleak.
Go have a $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks and tweet the other sheep all about it. And maybe they will get a pop-up ad for a coupon to save on their next Starbucks.
And just how would buying twitter make any sense for Apple? How is twitter going to make money? Sell ads?
Typical Twitterheads.. The lack of business insight and the inability to understand the long-term implications of their actions. Instant gratification. The future of our country is bleak.
Go have a $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks and tweet the other sheep all about it. And maybe they will get a pop-up ad for a coupon to save on their next Starbucks.
There's value in 100 million + users. Apple is a smart company and could figure out a plan... I'm sure that if Twitter was the right price then it would be well worth it.
i'm not at all into taking good pictures and screwing up the colors and doing destructive editing. i should make my billions making an un-instagram app for people who want to see their photos the right way in 1 or 10 years.
I wish Twitter bough instagram to be honest...and I hope no one buys Twitter...and I agree about hopefully not Google or Facebook.
I doubt it. Twitter has not demonstrated a willingness to be bought out by a big company. They are a bigger company and are making money (unlike Instagram). Right now it?s valued at over 8 billion and they are getting funding quite regularly. From what I have read of the owners is that they aren?t interested in a buyout - they have had big offers before.
Anyhow, Twitter had no reason to acquire Instagram - they have their own service and Instagram already directly integrates into Twitter already. They already benefit from them.
Such a stupid business model. Like many people I take steps to actively avoid online ads. Of the ones that sneak through, I pay little heed to them and the more they are "targeted" at me the more obvious and ridiculous they are.
I play this cat & mouse game too. We already lost the war. Many of my friends are on Facebook and twitter. These are smart people who have determined that the FaceBook/Google model gives them free social networking. They find the services more valuable than the privacy. The networks aren't cheap to run and those friends all agree (except me) that the likes of Facebook should be able to make profit.
We lost this war a while back and now this is the new brave world. We'll just have to learn to live within it and try our best to keep our private stuff off the grid but allow models like FB to make money. \
I do the same thing too. I don't even see ads since I use AdBlock. But you will be surprised how many people out there click those ads. It is stupid business model but it works! $1 billion for a two year business is super success.
I use all the programs available to me to block ads. I still see them, even with ad blocker, because they got smart and know that ads created in HTML5 is almost impossible to block.
They already got your pictures and you won't get them back even if you delete them from your interface. Facebook just bought them and has them with your name in the private database that you cannot get at.
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.
If people read my other post in this thread, this mentality in the above comment proves what I'm talking about. There is no right or wrong here. They have their reason, as do I. But there are more of them today and less of us old timers who knew the Internet when it was free of ads and privacy was king. The young generation doesn't care about the book theme of 1984, as we did.
Comments
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.
They have to make a lot more than that. They bought a company and its development team, not just source code. More to the point, they don't have 30 million paying customers.
The App is Free. Most people don't take kindly to a Free-->Pay service. They much prefer a perceived premium service for pay from the start.
Facebook will also not charge but amortize the cost through advertising.
http://instagram.com/about/faq/
How will you make money?
We believe that the core of our product will always be free. There will be opportunities for consumers to buy extra add-ons like special filters, etc. However, we plan to experiment with different models as we grow and learn what special value we can provide to the community to make their collective experience more engaging, exciting and useful.
Assets:
Who are your investors?
We raised a $500,000 seed round from Andreessen-Horowitz and Baseline Ventures, and a $7 million Series A from Benchmark Capital and a small group of angel investors. We?re very excited to be working with investors who have a proven track record and experience in the space with investments like Twitter and Foursquare.
Another Marc Andreessen bomb.
Let me guess, ``This will be for photos what Twitter is for short messaging.''
$622.5M in 2011 dollars. But hey, it's not a valid social .com acquisition unless you overpay.
About $250 M in 1996 dollars, which while less than the NeXT purchase still illustrates how overpriced this purchase is. Oh, and how sh*tty the dollar is.
Who says you can't have it all?
(Of course I believe that inflation is 1-2% a year, that's what the government says. If actual prices don't match that, it's because we're just buying the wrong things... like food, gas, and property.
Facebook is looking more and more like what it is--a 2012 Yahoo/Netscape Portal with Friends reconnecting and staying connected--nothing more, nothing less.
All Businesses paying Facebook for product advertisement and placement are wise to redirect the bulk of their brand back to their own domains.
Time to find an Instagram alternative.
I'm surprised Microsoft doesn't have "Old timey photo enhancer Live!" as part of Windows 7 or Bing. The old Microsoft would be all over that for fear of missing out.
Time to find an Instagram alternative.
The only way I'll continue using Instagram is if there is a strict separation and users are allowed to not have to share any photos on FB. Also, I don't want to have to change my login to be the same as my FB account.
They have to make a lot more than that. They bought a company and its development team, not just source code. More to the point, they don't have 30 million paying customers.
The App is Free. Most people don't take kindly to a Free-->Pay service. They much prefer a perceived premium service for pay from the start.
Facebook will also not charge but amortize the cost through advertising.
http://instagram.com/about/faq/
Assets:
Another Marc Andreessen bomb.
Let me guess, ``This will be for photos what Twitter is for short messaging.''
Facebook doesn't want your money. They want all of your private information, so they can sell it to ad buyers!
The only way I'll continue using Instagram is if there is a strict separation and users are allowed to not have to share any photos on FB. Also, I don't want to have to change my login to be the same as my FB account.
For at least the first year FB will bury the opt out process so deep that people will just give up and accept it.
I am going to vomit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
F U C K sake Apple! If you let Twitter slip away I won't forgive you. I have been tweeting you to buy Instagram for 6 months!
And just how would buying twitter make any sense for Apple? How is twitter going to make money? Sell ads?
Typical Twitterheads.. The lack of business insight and the inability to understand the long-term implications of their actions. Instant gratification. The future of our country is bleak.
Go have a $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks and tweet the other sheep all about it. And maybe they will get a pop-up ad for a coupon to save on their next Starbucks.
And just how would buying twitter make any sense for Apple? How is twitter going to make money? Sell ads?
Typical Twitterheads.. The lack of business insight and the inability to understand the long-term implications of their actions. Instant gratification. The future of our country is bleak.
Go have a $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks and tweet the other sheep all about it. And maybe they will get a pop-up ad for a coupon to save on their next Starbucks.
There's value in 100 million + users. Apple is a smart company and could figure out a plan... I'm sure that if Twitter was the right price then it would be well worth it.
Someone will buy Twitter soon.
[oh yeah... and I doubt Ireland is a twitterhead]
Someone will buy Twitter soon.
I sure hope it's not Google or Facebook?
I sure hope it's not Google or Facebook?
I wish Twitter bough instagram to be honest...and I hope no one buys Twitter...and I agree about hopefully not Google or Facebook.
I wish Twitter bough instagram to be honest...and I hope no one buys Twitter...and I agree about hopefully not Google or Facebook.
I doubt it. Twitter has not demonstrated a willingness to be bought out by a big company. They are a bigger company and are making money (unlike Instagram). Right now it?s valued at over 8 billion and they are getting funding quite regularly. From what I have read of the owners is that they aren?t interested in a buyout - they have had big offers before.
Anyhow, Twitter had no reason to acquire Instagram - they have their own service and Instagram already directly integrates into Twitter already. They already benefit from them.
Are they even generating revenue??? Not that I care if Facebook wants to throw away their money, just saying.
If you put you pictures online anywhere without a password, they are effectively public domain, and you lose ownership.
Such a stupid business model. Like many people I take steps to actively avoid online ads. Of the ones that sneak through, I pay little heed to them and the more they are "targeted" at me the more obvious and ridiculous they are.
I play this cat & mouse game too. We already lost the war. Many of my friends are on Facebook and twitter. These are smart people who have determined that the FaceBook/Google model gives them free social networking. They find the services more valuable than the privacy. The networks aren't cheap to run and those friends all agree (except me) that the likes of Facebook should be able to make profit.
We lost this war a while back and now this is the new brave world. We'll just have to learn to live within it and try our best to keep our private stuff off the grid but allow models like FB to make money.
I do the same thing too. I don't even see ads since I use AdBlock. But you will be surprised how many people out there click those ads. It is stupid business model but it works! $1 billion for a two year business is super success.
I use all the programs available to me to block ads. I still see them, even with ad blocker, because they got smart and know that ads created in HTML5 is almost impossible to block.
I agree. I'll delete it and won't use it again !
They already got your pictures and you won't get them back even if you delete them from your interface. Facebook just bought them and has them with your name in the private database that you cannot get at.
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.
If people read my other post in this thread, this mentality in the above comment proves what I'm talking about. There is no right or wrong here. They have their reason, as do I. But there are more of them today and less of us old timers who knew the Internet when it was free of ads and privacy was king. The young generation doesn't care about the book theme of 1984, as we did.
Welcome to the second coming of the dot bomb.
Isn't that the truth!