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Beeper acquired by Automattic

blog.beeper.com

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Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#291

Post by Mindwipe »

paulmd wrote: post #282
gwerbret wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Exciting day for Beeper! Congratulations on your successful exit, but is it actually an exciting day for Beeper? Your product has been assimilated into something of a behemoth, whose goals (in spite of the text of your announcement) aren't necessarily those of a free and open internet through open communication protocols. Do you foresee a five-year timeline in which anti-monopoly legislation forces an opening up of…

[flagged]

I think it's a bit naïve to suggest that Apple weren't coming after the Hackintosh exploits for their own unrelated reasons to be honest, and they absolutely knew what they were.

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#292

Post by Mindwipe »

COGlory wrote: post #185
jamesmunns wrote: post #2

I really like Beeper, and congrats to them for getting acquired, but my first reaction is "aw damn how long until the parts I love about Beeper get incredible journey'd away". The new android app is really good, the desktop app has always been a step up from other Element apps I've used (it is a distant fork, these days), I don't have iMessage, but it works great with Matrix and Signal and WhatsApp a ton of other "ra…

Automattic rescued Pocket Casts from NPR, and made them open source. Tumblr from Verizon. In general they're very good stewards.

"Rescued Tumblr" would certainly be news to the remaining users of Tumblr.

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#293

Post by Grustaf »

gkoberger wrote: post #211
throwaway6e8f wrote: post #208

This is an odd match, and at a time when the strategic value of Beeper seems to be very low. > Matt, Automattic’s CEO, and I have known each other for years Could it perhaps be a favor for a friend to give a plausible reason for ejecting from the business without admitting failure?

Sure, but Automattic also bought Texts.com... this seems to be part of a bigger strategy on their part. Even friends don't spend $150M on friends for no reason. Automattic is doing well, but they don't have $150M to drop (plus future salaries, hosting, etc) just to help someone save face.

The $150M figure is just hearsay though, isn't it? Or has either party officially mentioned it?

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#294

Post by gkoberger »

Grustaf wrote: post #293
gkoberger wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but Automattic also bought Texts.com... this seems to be part of a bigger strategy on their part. Even friends don't spend $150M on friends for no reason. Automattic is doing well, but they don't have $150M to drop (plus future salaries, hosting, etc) just to help someone save face.

The $150M figure is just hearsay though, isn't it? Or has either party officially mentioned it?

Whoops, I was a bit off, it's actually $125M

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/technology/beeper-messagi...

(Obviously a lot of that is likely stock, but that's true about most acquisitions)

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#295

Post by k8svet »

erohead wrote: post #269
k8svet wrote: post #159

The Verge reports: > Since then, Beeper has rolled out some security upgrades that change the way the app handles security and prevent Beeper itself from seeing unencrypted messages from Signal, WhatsApp, and other encrypted apps. Screenshots of Beeper’s desktop and mobile apps. How?

Here's how it works: https://blog.beeper.com/2024/04/09/how-beeper-android-works/

This is exceptional effort and communication to build something cool. I'm very, very impressed.

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#296

Post by Grustaf »

gkoberger wrote: post #294
Grustaf wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The $150M figure is just hearsay though, isn't it? Or has either party officially mentioned it?

Whoops, I was a bit off, it's actually $125M https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/technology/beeper-messagi... (Obviously a lot of that is likely stock, but that's true about most acquisitions)

I can't read the story, is the number official?

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#297

Post by Grustaf »

talldayo wrote: post #288
paulmd wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> but it’s an incredibly shitty move on a personal level. Shitty to whom, on a personal level? Tim Cook? People really aren't kidding when they say HN is the orange Macrumors, huh? > at the direct expense and risk of a non-profit community built around it. I don't know where you learned the definition, but iMessage is not a non-profit product. It's not even an open one.

Clearly he means that it's shitty for people who relied on the exploit, but without monetizing it. When Beeper started monetizing it, obviously Apple had to close it, and hobbyists suffered.

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#298

Post by talldayo »

Grustaf wrote: post #297
talldayo wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it’s an incredibly shitty move on a personal level. Shitty to whom, on a personal level? Tim Cook? People really aren't kidding when they say HN is the orange Macrumors, huh? > at the direct expense and risk of a non-profit community built around it. I don't know where you learned the definition, but iMessage is not a non-profit product. It's not even an open one.

Clearly he means that it's shitty for people who relied on the exploit, but without monetizing it. When Beeper started monetizing it, obviously Apple had to close it, and hobbyists suffered.

As someone that knows people that use Matrix bridges, I feel confident that 99% of those people would blame Apple and not Beeper. Either the exploit is bad and Apple would have shut it down regardless, or it's benign and Apple is trying to secure their manifest destiny. The monetization aspect of it feels completely tangential when there is no sanctioned "free" route anyways.

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#299

Post by paulmd »

Mindwipe wrote: post #291
paulmd wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I think it's a bit naïve to suggest that Apple weren't coming after the Hackintosh exploits for their own unrelated reasons to be honest, and they absolutely knew what they were.

Those exploits have existed for 10-15 years, they are as old as the hackintosh community.

There is a difference between commercial exploitation and hobbyist usage - just like with legacy emulation vs pirating. And no, apple really hasn’t come down despite knowing it exists, and probably wouldn’t have without beeper.

Re: Beeper acquired by Automattic

#300

Post by talldayo »

paulmd wrote: post #299
Mindwipe wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's a bit naïve to suggest that Apple weren't coming after the Hackintosh exploits for their own unrelated reasons to be honest, and they absolutely knew what they were.

Those exploits have existed for 10-15 years, they are as old as the hackintosh community. There is a difference between commercial exploitation and hobbyist usage - just like with legacy emulation vs pirating. And no, apple really hasn’t come down despite knowing it exists, and probably wouldn’t have without beeper.

> they are as old as the hackintosh community.

Serial spoofing is, but Apple cracks down on that too: https://www.reddit.com/r/hackintosh/comments/t9p5ff/psa_usin...

It's really not fair to say that the scene was "just fine" up until Beeper went commercial. In those 10-15 years, there were a lot of changes intended to segregate Hackintoshes from Macintoshes.

> There is a difference between commercial exploitation and hobbyist usage

What damages would Apple claim? That people didn't buy iPhones to use their insular and potentially-illegal messaging service? That they abused the same resources that millions of unknowing users exploit for free daily?

It's Apple's call to pull the cord whenever they want, but it's also entirely their decision to keep iMessage a walled garden. It's impossible for you to redirect the vitriol towards Beeper when the only thing they did "wrong" was sell a solution to an Apple-designed problem.

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