Facebook acquires Instagram • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#31

Post by gcl2 » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:11 PM UTC

op_amp wrote: post #14

brlewis wrote: post #5

I think it's cool and bold that he's sharing specific features of Instagram that they plan to preserve. It's bold because it increases the PR cost of changing those plans.

"we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people"

Haven't you heard, that's the cool thing for startup founders to say while trying their best to get acquired behind closed doors.

It used to be a better world when they just tried their best to get acquired without making public claims to the contrary.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#32

Post by zinssmeister » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:11 PM UTC

Instagram has an awesome team and kept stealing eye-balls from facebook. It makes a lot of sense for facebook to get this team AND the product.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#33

Post by benologist » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:12 PM UTC

jordhy wrote: post #21

I'm not very clear on the main driving factor of this acquisition: is it a talent grab, a technology acquisition or did they acquire Instagram mainly for the customer base. FB really wanted Instagram. They've been in talks since August 2011: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/08/24/facebook-couldnt-ac...

They probably did to protect themselves... instagram was growing like crazy, last thing FB needs is another giant network to share people with.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#34

Post by randomdata » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:12 PM UTC

statictype wrote: post #16

How many photo-related startups has Facebook acquired now? And what do they gain from Instagram? A user base? Most of them are probably already on Facebook? Technology for handling photos? Doesn't Facebook already do this as well as anyone else? Design and UI talent for mobile apps? Don't they already have Mike Matas?

Perhaps they just see Instagram as a threat? If everyone is sharing their photos on Instagram, they are not doing so on Facebook.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#35

Post by davidw » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:12 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #25

jordhy wrote: post #21

I'm not very clear on the main driving factor of this acquisition: is it a talent grab, a technology acquisition or did they acquire Instagram mainly for the customer base. FB really wanted Instagram. They've been in talks since August 2011: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/08/24/facebook-couldnt-ac...

I feel like I can safely declare that there is no such thing as a one billion dollar talent acquisition.

Maybe in Zimbabwe, but otherwise, it doesn't seem likely, does it.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#36

Post by methoddk » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:12 PM UTC

As long as they keep instagram intact as the service it is now, then awesome.

If Facebook kills my favorite platform, that would make for a really sad day.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#37

Post by callmeed » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:12 PM UTC

You know, I used to be pretty lax (careless, even) about geotagging all my Instagram photos.

Now, should I continue to use Instagram at all, I'm definitely not going to share my location.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#38

Post by tptacek » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:13 PM UTC

benologist wrote: post #33

jordhy wrote: post #21

I'm not very clear on the main driving factor of this acquisition: is it a talent grab, a technology acquisition or did they acquire Instagram mainly for the customer base. FB really wanted Instagram. They've been in talks since August 2011: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/08/24/facebook-couldnt-ac...

They probably did to protect themselves... instagram was growing like crazy, last thing FB needs is another giant network to share people with.

That's my thought too. Instagram has a plausible claim on all mobile photo sharing, and there's a strain of thought that suggests that 80% of the value of Facebook is photo sharing. Instagram might be a bit too much of a free radical for Facebook to let float around the market.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#39

Post by jonursenbach » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:13 PM UTC

Toddward wrote: post #26

jsm386 wrote: post #9

According to WSJ price is $1B source: http://allthingsd.com/20120409/breaking-facebook-to-acquire-... Edit: Direct Source: http://newsroom.fb.com/Announcements/Facebook-to-Acquire-Ins... The total consideration for San Francisco-based Instagram is approximately $1 billion in a combination of cash and shares of Facebook. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close later this…

Quite a jump from the $500 million valuation they were shooting for last week[1]. [1] http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/08/no-filter-required-instagra...

Wonder if there was a bidding war between FB and Google that caused it to double off of that.

Re: Facebook acquires Instagram

#40

Post by vibrunazo » Mon, Apr 09, 2012, 5:13 PM UTC

jordhy wrote: post #21

I'm not very clear on the main driving factor of this acquisition: is it a talent grab, a technology acquisition or did they acquire Instagram mainly for the customer base. FB really wanted Instagram. They've been in talks since August 2011: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/08/24/facebook-couldnt-ac...

I would say customer base is the strongest point, and that indirectly means technology. Instagram is huge. Now many people's default photo app will automatically upload to facebook, as a google+ instant upload competitor.