I guess any disruption is possible, particularly in technology, but it occurs to me this race may too hard to enter at this point.
The problem is to compete in mobile, it is no longer about hardware and an OS.
You need:
- Apps and vibrant developer community
- Simple system to update OS and Apps
- Cloud storage for apps and media
- Content deals for books, music, and video
- Integration to Windows and Mac apps (outlook, etc.)
It's possible FB can bring all of this to bear, or change the game, but it seems like a long shot to me. Nokia, Motorola, et al. learned the hard way that better hardware and software is no longer enough.
Plus, FB brings some serious baggage. Its core offering is increasingly viewed as spyware. Do people really want an ad company to know every email, phone call, web search, picture, etc., they make and send? I sure wouldn't.
More competition is a good thing for us. No doubt about it. And again, maybe FB has a way to change the game so it can win. But looking at the playing field as it exists today, this seems like a dollar short and a day late.
I agree with you that this is the case for people between the ages of 20 and 45. But folks older than 45 largely don't use Facebook and they probably won't ever get into a Social Network. And the question is if something new will come around that the kids will use instead of Facebook. The kids aren't tired of social networks. They aren't as vested in Facebook and they might switch.
You are talking as if Apple had all of these features implemented when iPhone was launched. FB Phone only needs a really good single feature to be successful. The question is: what feature would bring to a phone a similar hype as when first iPhone was launched.
Nokia just launched the 808 Pureview, equipped with a camera capable of beating most dedicated compact cameras. I doubt this phone will be a successful seller, but the technology can be applied on Nokia Lumias. Then it will be a candidate to recover some market share.
Facebook needs something like this: a nice OS and at least one killer feature.
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i would pay 15 bucks a year for a "no ads" version of Facebook.
It's funny how everyone is sooo shocked by this when Facebook have been in the phone biz for a while. Heck, the "Facebook phone" was released last year, made by HTC and running Android (Facebook could do what to Google with a Facebook phone again ?) :
![]()
For a bunch of self-proclaimed tech enthusiasts, you guys sure have bad memories about actual tech outside of Apple.![]()
I see what you are saying, but the problem with what you're saying is Facebook is now like an appliance. People haven't gotten sick of toasters or motor vehicles even though neither has really changed at all (toasters don't deep fry and cars don't fly). It sounds ridiculous but it's true. Facebook is as important part of American life that it is near becoming a fixture.
"people will get sick of FaceBook"
I dont quite buy that. I think FB have managed to make their app into something people have integrated into their everyday lives.
Here's another thought for you. Email, as a form of non-business communications is dying. Its been replaced by texting and FaceBook.
The smartest thing FB can do is to simplify their product, dumb it down, and just leave it alone. Its not a sexy approach but it will work and assure them a long future not unlike the one Microsoft have with the likes of "Office".
However, to think that a company with zero expertise in hardware design or OS design can just suddenly jump into one of the most cutthroat markets is pretty arrogant. Just hiring some ex-iPhone guys is not going to do it.
LOL. The CEO who want to build a phone doesn't even know what chips are used in an iPhone. Shows how little (i.e., non-existent) FB's knowledge in the hardware area is.
Why vertically integrate so deep into the technology stack? If the expectation is to profit selling great hardware, I don't see it happening for FB. On the OS side, I don't see what would drive them to customize; can't they continue to develop ad delivery / services on existing platforms?
Why does fb need their own phone? What would that give them that apps don't? Do they want full control of the OS, so they can ram advertising into it at an inescapably low level?
Think of the possibilities:
- They could insert ads into text messages.
- Substitute prerecorded ads in place of ringtones/system sounds? ("incoming call from your mom - brought to you by Mrs Smith's Pies!". "This is your early morning wake up alarm - brought to you by Starbucks coffee."). Yuck.
- Insert prerecorded ads into the middle of phone conversations?
I suppose folks might tolerate it if the price was right. Free is good, right?![]()
Why are you so mad ? Arrogance ? It's just a company continuing something they've been working on for a while and getting talent to make it better.
The Facebook phone was released last year. Was it successful ? No. Was Apple's first phone successful ? Heck no.
Some of the people here amaze me, if this story was about Apple getting Facebook engineers to make Ping better, you'd bet you and everyone else that's pissing in Facebook's cereal would be cheerleading like no tomorrow.
Drop the mass subjectivity and side-picking. Apple, Facebook, both are just faceless corporations. No one is harming you or your family, there's no reason to get pissed off at any of this.
Apple created the iPhone because they thought all the mobile phones at the time were crap. Apple's focus is 100% product. As a consequence of making great products, people like them, buy them and thus makes tons of money.LOL! Apple created the iphone to make money, just like any company.
Facebook phone? This is exactly what they need after a failing IPO, a phone that will tank.
Apples first phone WAS a friggin success, it changed the whole industry.