Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook • Hacker News Board

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#11

Post by sahillavingia » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 6:30 PM UTC

A-K wrote: post #9

ivanzhao wrote: post #2

Is it a pure talent acquisition? As Push Pop Press's core business (coffee table iPad books) is so distant from Facebook's. Maybe they want to do something Flipboard-ish?

I guess this must be a talent grab. I haven't seen a more fluid, well-oiled app than Our Choice. The real question is, if Facebook's supposed iPad app is already close to launch, what's with the timing behind this?

Sometimes acquisitions are announced a long time after the acquisition actually happens.

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#12

Post by koopajah » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 6:33 PM UTC

hv23 wrote: post #10

flyosity wrote: post #6

Facebook is up to something really big. Awhile ago they brought on Brandon Walkin ( http://www.brandonwalkin.com/blog/ ) who is, arguably, one of the most detailed-oriented user interface designers on the planet. He's also a very talented Cocoa developer and apps that he's worked on have won Apple Design Awards. Next, they acquired Sofa, another Apple Design Award-winning design & software firm who have created some…

+1, there's definitely an interesting pattern of Facebook acquiring top Apple-related design talent. TechCrunch has a series of posts on "Project Spartan", a high-priority project within Facebook where they're rumored to be making a new massive mobile distribution platform based on HTML5 ( http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/15/facebook-project-spartan/ ). Maybe related? //end rampant speculation

And they also hired Geohot last month. Might really well add to the facebook phone idea!

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#13

Post by wallflower » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 6:43 PM UTC

My first thought upon hearing that it was Push Pop Press was education. Because of their work with Al Gore. Maybe even the predecessor to the TYLIP. Perhaps it could even be field-tested at the beneficiary school district(s) of the $100M pledge.

In Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age", a plot device (not central), is The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. It is an adaptive AI tutor. To realize TYLIP, hard AI problems will need to be solved. Yet, it is possible the iPad is a big step towards a simpler Primer.

"TYLIP is...a book that is powered by a computer so advanced it’s almost magical, and it teaches children everything. It does this through a fully interactive story. It teaches you how to read, how to do maths, it teaches you morals, ethics, even self-defence. ‘Diamond Age’ is a very entertaining read, mainly because of the TYLIP."

http://mssv.net/2006/05/01/the-young-ladys-illustrated-prime...

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#14

Post by ltamake » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 6:46 PM UTC

The horrible beast swallows up another good idea. :(

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#15

Post by aculver » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 6:51 PM UTC

Mike Matas is awesome. I've been a fan of his work since Delicious Monster and I hope (if the past endeavors haven't already) that this transaction sets him up nicely. His photography and videography of his world travels at http://mikematas.com/ is amazing and I'd love to see more.

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#16

Post by schrototo » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 7:10 PM UTC

pumblechook wrote: post #4

Sad to see. This was the only promising execution of ebooks for the tablet age, and Facebook is where it goes to die? I know they probably got obscene amounts of cash, but it is still disheartening to see innovations swallowed up by decidedly non-innovative companies.

While I thought Our Choice was a pretty snazzy product, and I think it's a shame that they're discontinuing work on their publishing platform, they did have a somewhat conservative approach to ebooks. No selectable text, "interactivity" that was pretty much limited to embedded videos and charts, and so on. What made it special was the incredibly "fluid" interface, meaning there wasn't a single button or control, you navigated the book purely by touching what you wanted to move and it worked like magic.

But there's lots of other ways books can be done in a digital format. For one really excellent example look at Inkling [1]. Now that's revolutionizing a medium (in this case textbooks).

[1] http://www.inkling.com/

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#17

Post by fuckall » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 7:13 PM UTC

flyosity wrote: post #6

Facebook is up to something really big. Awhile ago they brought on Brandon Walkin ( http://www.brandonwalkin.com/blog/ ) who is, arguably, one of the most detailed-oriented user interface designers on the planet. He's also a very talented Cocoa developer and apps that he's worked on have won Apple Design Awards. Next, they acquired Sofa, another Apple Design Award-winning design & software firm who have created some…

Also the great Ben Barry (http://blog.designforfun.com/) of the design cult forum theroot42.org and other places now works at Facebook.

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#18

Post by jkincaid » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 7:28 PM UTC

flyosity wrote: post #6

Facebook is up to something really big. Awhile ago they brought on Brandon Walkin ( http://www.brandonwalkin.com/blog/ ) who is, arguably, one of the most detailed-oriented user interface designers on the planet. He's also a very talented Cocoa developer and apps that he's worked on have won Apple Design Awards. Next, they acquired Sofa, another Apple Design Award-winning design & software firm who have created some…

I doubt Facebook would build a hardware device. Instead, I think they'll do a 'social OS' that uses Android for all the low-level stuff, but with the Google apps all replaced with apps that have deep Facebook integration (messages, contacts, photos, etc.).

Microsoft Bing apps (e.g. Maps) could round out the features that FB doesn't build themselves, and they could use Amazon's Appstore in lieu of Android Market.

But to your point, it's possible these designers are at work making this social OS beautiful. Android in the back, iOS in the front.

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#19

Post by cullenking » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 8:12 PM UTC

jkincaid wrote: post #18

flyosity wrote: post #6

Facebook is up to something really big. Awhile ago they brought on Brandon Walkin ( http://www.brandonwalkin.com/blog/ ) who is, arguably, one of the most detailed-oriented user interface designers on the planet. He's also a very talented Cocoa developer and apps that he's worked on have won Apple Design Awards. Next, they acquired Sofa, another Apple Design Award-winning design & software firm who have created some…

I doubt Facebook would build a hardware device. Instead, I think they'll do a 'social OS' that uses Android for all the low-level stuff, but with the Google apps all replaced with apps that have deep Facebook integration (messages, contacts, photos, etc.). Microsoft Bing apps (e.g. Maps) could round out the features that FB doesn't build themselves, and they could use Amazon's Appstore in lieu of Android Market. But…

Facebook won't build their competing phone OS on top of android - Google controls android and Google is facebook's biggest competitor.

Re: Push Pop Press acquired by Facebook

#20

Post by null_para » Tue, Aug 02, 2011, 8:29 PM UTC

flyosity wrote: post #6

Facebook is up to something really big. Awhile ago they brought on Brandon Walkin ( http://www.brandonwalkin.com/blog/ ) who is, arguably, one of the most detailed-oriented user interface designers on the planet. He's also a very talented Cocoa developer and apps that he's worked on have won Apple Design Awards. Next, they acquired Sofa, another Apple Design Award-winning design & software firm who have created some…

Wow..thats awesome! May be building next-gen HTML5 stuff (based on TC reports abt HTML5)