There is something very wrong with the head of Snapchat. We’ve all known it for a long time, we’re all watching a car crash slowly unfold and I suspect the headline act for Internet bubble 2.0’s big bang will be the company that trades in ephemerality.
The above is the latest example of a company that not only doesn’t play quite by the rule book, but clearly doesn’t understand Continue reading
No doubt you’ve already seen friends sharing screenshots of the Microsoft powered website how-old.net on your Facebook newsfeed. Within hours of its release it had gone viral, which is mildly unusual as it’s not a new idea by any means. Despite it being absolutely appalling at guessing people’s age it’s been a hit.
But did you read the fine print? Tucked away several paragraphs down in the Terms of Use is this long sentence. Continue reading
A change in the law will allow photographers to pay rent on their homes & studios with ‘exposure’ instead of money. They will also be able to buy coffee, shampoo and other essentials, by mentioning to the checkout assistant that they did a big job last week for nothing, and are hoping it will bring them some paying clients.
Landlords and supermarkets are protesting this move, on the grounds that “Well what the hell am I supposed to do with ‘exposure’? I can’t pay my bills with fresh bloody air! Why can’t you just give me money like every bugger else?” Continue reading
Two and a half years ago the web was abuzz with news that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.com had struck a deal with the owner-founders of Instagram to buy the photo sharing service for a billion dollars made up of $FB stock options and hard cash. On the most part it was considered a very risky move by Facebook, as Instagram wasn’t even turning a profit. Purchasing a completely separate entity rather than innovating themselves is something Facebook has made a name for.
The general sentiment at the time was dampened as not long had passed since Yahoo had completely desecrated the once king of photo sharing sites Flickr by rolling out a complete redesign at the bereft of its users. If one of the major players in social media can do that to Flickr, what will Facebook to to Instagram?
Connor Adams Sheets for The International Business Times summed up how much of the industry felt about the deal at the time:
“overpaying for companies like Instagram won’t help Facebook maintain its dominant market share, as a billion bucks for a fun (and admittedly useful) photo app represents a huge overestimation of how much the company is really worth.”
Oh how wrong we all were. Because today, Facebook announced by virtue of the brokers CitiGroup that their acquisition of the selfie, filtered, food-fest site is now estimated at a very cool $35 billion dollars. The maths involved has had a few commentators a little sceptical, but even if it’s only half that value it is an impressive investment.
Next comes the real test, as you may recall early this year Mark made another photography related (yes, perhaps a little tenuous) acquisition by bringing on board the mobile messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion dollars! Let’s see what Citigroup have to say about that next quarter.
Related:
Wired.com – Instagram’s Buyout: No Bubble to be Seen here
The Telegraph – Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg Defends $1bn Instagram Purchase
Phogotraphy 