Earlier quoted context omitted.
no, I can see how Snapchat is unique and fresh. WhatsApp brings nothing new to the table.
WhatsApp brings Asia, Africa, and South America to the table.
Dude I have no idea why no one is recognizing this.
Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
821–830 of 831 posts
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#822Earlier quoted context omitted.
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'm in Ecuador and most young people (which is a lot here, the average age is 26) use a combination of Whatsapp, FB and SMS. Ex-pats avoid SMS as they are usually on pay-as-you-go plans on $20 phones. It can't be like this forever, as the network effect leans towards a single messaging solution, the carriers will lose their hold on SMS as a revenue stream. But this will depend heavily on universal Internet access.
As one of those expats (starting my 8th year in a little fishing village in pacific coastal ecuador), can I just say --
We're on pay-as-you-go plans, but usually on nice phones we brought unlocked from our home countries. I'm typing this on my trusty Air, which is tethered through an unlocked iPhone 4S.
I'm also listening to waves crash. We got our first swell in a month yesterday, and non-locals are showing up a day late ... 4 or 5 of them. A crowd. I was the only one out for the good stuff yesterday, and I sucked the marrow out of it, and am instead enjoying sitting on my balcony drinking coffee and vagando here on HN. Ahhh.
Where was I? Oh, yes.
I can confirm the crazy-fast penetration of both smartphones in general (probably way over 90% android), WhatsApp in particular, and the FB/WhatsApp/SMS mix.
So WhatsApp isn't the internet here yet. But it's definitely got brand parity with Facebook around here. Which is pretty amazing considering their relative valuations.
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#823Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#824Earlier 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…
Still struggling to figure out why it's so popular. I read the other article[1] on the front page suggesting that the reason for the popularity is that the app works on low end handsets. But then so does SMS. Is the design of WhatsApp so much better than built in SMS, or is it just the fact that WhatsApp is free? [For me and most people I know SMS is virtually free, but I guess that's not the case around the world] […
The reason my friends use it rather than Google hangouts, as an example, is the unique combination of features:
* Works on all phones
* Has persistent chat groups
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#825400,000,000 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…
How much are all those users paying in phone contracts? A lot more than $40 each. This is Facebook commoditizing its compliments: break the SMS cartel, eventually reduce mobile carriers to ISPs, users pay less for their phone contracts and the money they save goes somewhere else (whether Facebook can capture much of that is another matter).
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#826Earlier quoted context omitted.
That changed. The app is now[0] free and it's $1/year, in every platform. [0]: http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/20/3787472/whatsapp-for-ios-...
That's just free to download. You still pay per year fee.
Well I've been a user for 5 years and I've only paid my 0.99c fee. And I don't know anyone else who has had to pay a 'membership'
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#827Facebook just purchased 400,000,000 phone numbers.
Exactly my thought at first, they are asking for it all the time, but I'm not giving it. Now I uninstalled whatsapp from phone because I don't want facebook having my number.
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#828Very height price
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#829And now, WhatsApp is down!
Re: Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs
#830Aaand WhatsApp is down... on Saturday night (GMT+1). Chaos looms over Spain as we can't remember when was the last time we used anything else to send plans for tonight.