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Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

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Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#741

Post by mcintyre1994 »

pbreit wrote: post #232

I usually don't poo-poo acquisitions but this one surprises me for a) the valuation (Facebook really couldn't convince them to exit for 5 or 10 billion?) and b) Facebook really needs to demonstrate that it can get into these markets itself. With all the supposed ingenuity, developer talent, money and existing users, why can't Facebook build anything besides a news feed?

I personally think Facebook Messenger is better than Whatsapp, and you can easily upgrade to a private group when appropriate. Whatsapp seemed to miss the ball on tablets/everywhere by focusing only on phones and requiring a phone number, which obviously worked for them but I think Facebook's product is better.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#742

Post by balladeer »

kamaal wrote: post #580
nullspace wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really "pop" technology. Surprisingly, it's not used much in the United States, but in India it's basically a replacement for text messaging. Everyone from a 13 year old child to my grand mom uses it to keep in touch with friends and family members across the globe. IMHO, they were able to get to such widespread everyday usage because they such awesome and reliable technology. Much better than what Google ha…

I'm currently staying in Bangalore. I had to join WhatsApp because most of relatives on Facebook moved on to WhatsApp and there are atleast like 6-7 groups on my WhatsApp. Friends, Office colleagues, cousins and other people. I'm rarely seeing FB updates from my friends these days. Most of it happens on WhatsApp channels. So its not a surprise FB bought them. Because if they don't they risk losing all users to WhatsA…

I live in Bangalore too! It's just that most of my friends are moving from WhatsApp to Viber and remaining will hopefully move now. I have around 10 groups running from school, boarding, college, jobs and some more.

Fb buying them is a deal breaker. None of my "well read" friends are going to trust WhatsApp with those nude photos, short pornos or very very personal information we share.

I don't know. Facebook just looks like a desperate chap.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#746

Post by arfliw »

vladiliescu wrote: post #706
nwh wrote: post #60

400,000,000 active users [0] 16,000,000,000 USD ---- $40 per user That's an incredible cost. We can assume Facebook is paying for the userbase, the app itself and it's infrastructure would basically run itself. It's less appealing when you realise that there's probably a miniscule fraction of WhatsApp users that don't have a Facebook account. > WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently. You can contin…

Facebook is trying to buy its perceived competition, i.e. the "next" Facebook before it can actually become The "next" Facebook. Same thing as with Instagram. The fact that they can spend so much money on this (and that their investors allow it) shows just how much they want to remain on top.

Their investors don't have any choice. Mark Zuckerberg has absolute control of Facebook. He can do whatever he wants.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#747

Post by josteink »

shubhamjain wrote: post #516
nullspace wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not really "pop" technology. Surprisingly, it's not used much in the United States, but in India it's basically a replacement for text messaging. Everyone from a 13 year old child to my grand mom uses it to keep in touch with friends and family members across the globe. IMHO, they were able to get to such widespread everyday usage because they such awesome and reliable technology. Much better than what Google ha…

I thought it was the de facto messaging app across the world? Is there any particular reason why it is not used much in US?

I thought it was the de facto messaging app across the world?

There is no such thing. IM is extremely fragmented into local markets, and you will find different solutions being the de-facto solutions at different locations.

For reference, I'm from Europe and outside the Netherlands I have never heard of anyone using Whatsapp. I tried it once, and it found 2 contacts among my 100s. It was instantly deleted as it was of no use to me.

I also remember it causing stability issues with my Android-phone, ensuring I will never ever install it on anything I own ever, for life, unless my primary intent is ruining that device.

What's "hot" here, or at least what I've heard of people using is MSN, Skype, FB Messenger, Hangouts, Twitter(!) and IRC.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#748

Post by lsc »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #541
lsc wrote: post #493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>OK, yes, "retain continuity of addressability for every device" then - you'll need something at your end to push a signed notification out indicating your IP address change but there's no reason that can't be seamless like texting your contacts a new phone number but without any interaction needed. so, you mean like dynamic updates to DNS? tsig-signed nsupdate? It's old technology, and would do what you describe (we…

> percolating down in less than two hours // How often are you planning on changing your domestic ISP?

If changing ISPs is your only use case, it works fine. But if you expect to keep the same name when you walk down to the coffee shop? Yeah, you're firing up the VPN.

I mean, nsupdate is great; I use it all the time, but it doesn't really solve the problem that the 'IP portability' folks were going or.

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#749

Post by KaoruAoiShiho »

psbp wrote: post #527
KaoruAoiShiho wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously the best way to communicate is via carrier pigeons.

I'm saying this isn't needed and serious innovation. It's a popularity and standards game. We definitely didn't use carrier pigeons before Whatsapp. IM clients have been ubiquitous for years.

On desktop, not on mobile. This is the first big mobile IM service and the network effects are tremendous. Every other IM service is crappy (Skype) or late (Voxer) or crappy and late (Hangouts).

Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

#750

Post by hu_me »

nwh wrote: post #60

400,000,000 active users [0] 16,000,000,000 USD ---- $40 per user That's an incredible cost. We can assume Facebook is paying for the userbase, the app itself and it's infrastructure would basically run itself. It's less appealing when you realise that there's probably a miniscule fraction of WhatsApp users that don't have a Facebook account. > WhatsApp will remain autonomous and operate independently. You can contin…

it remains to be seen how the autonomy works out. whatsapp collects very little data about the user. Phone number, username. No chat history and even name is optional this contrasts with FB's approach of getting all the data. I think the data collection changes would be a good test of autonomy.
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