Why Apple Should Grab Twitter | Hacker News Reader

Why Apple Should Grab Twitter

ritholtz.com

16 pointskrambs23 comments

So the TL;DR version of the article is "so Apple can become a player in social" but it never address the question as to whether that's actually something that Apple would want to / need to do.

To me this move would suck of Microsoft buying Hotmail, or getting into search or Messenger or any one of the things they go into when the internet started booming and they worried that they were getting left behind. And what's happened since? Microsoft have lost money hand over fist on them with little genuine strategic gain other than saying that they were in those spaces.

Social is a pretty rapidly evolving space at the moment but other than Facebook is anyone really making money there? Google have made several plays with limited success, Twitter is interesting but has an unclear business model and most of the social start ups range from the uninspiring to the niche to the sort of thing that Facebook is just going to copy and crush if it takes off.

And even Facebook, anecdotally at least, seems to be getting tired. I hear so many people talking of irritation with it, drifting away, even closing accounts. The figures continue to show growth but among the sort of people who were early adopters I'm personally seeing a complete lack of engagement with it.

So yes, it would make Apple a player in social but really, is that something they want?

In terms of keeping it out of the hands of Google or Facebook or whoever, if you think it's a good acquisition, you should buy it because of that. If you think it's a bad acquisition then you shouldn't care, in fact you should probably want them to buy it to have them waste a billion dollars.

Oh, and I loved the idea "they fix Ping and monitize it". Is it just me or is this MBA speak for "Buy Twitter, ?????, PROFIT!!!".

It seems to me (but what do I know) that companies that focus on what they do well, end up doing better in the long run. However shareholders typically don't like that strategy.

I think you're right. Twitter is not profitable. Apple shouldn't buy it in its current state... But maybe in a few years, if Twitter is on the brink of bankruptcy, Apple might be able to acquire it for much less. And in the meantime, Apple still has all the benefits of their strategic partnership as is currently stands.

If it were really on the verge of bankruptcy would it be attractive? That would pretty much indicate that it had failed as a venture so why would Apple want it?

> No, I am not suggesting Apple buy Facebook. (Zuckerberg has his own path to travel, and it does not go through Cupertino).

Who is this guy? Yoda? Or Nostradamus?

Ritholtz doesn't say it, but I would add "and then they should put Jack Dorsey on the fast track to CEO."

Dorsey's one of the few CEOs out there who looks like he could be the next Jobs. I'm not saying he's ready to run Apple yet - but it might not take long before he is.

Honest question: How can Facebook compete with Apple?

I have the same question.

I don't see buying Twitter as being very useful to Apple. Just because Apple, Google and Facebook are 3 of the largest tech giants at the moment doesn't mean they directly compete.

What's more, if the assumption is that Apple isn't very good at social, then the only thing they achieve by acquiring Twitter is to suddenly make themselves a straight competitor in a field where they have little expertise.

I don't see it making sense, but maybe I'm just being shortsighted :)

Seems their expertise is being measured by ping and the fact that it's not fb sized or twitter sized.

How does twitter fit with their products and strategy? It just seems sort of expensive when they can partner with those companies and have most of the same benefits

Supposedly they are working on a phone product of their own. Maybe that is what the author meant, but still I think they are playing at different games. Tech pundits just say shit, you know how it is.

Lets not forget that Apple already owns three of the most popular social "Apps"

- iMessage

- Phone

- Mail

Because they come stock on the device, they don't show up on leaderboards or get called out on user numbers, but is there any doubt that those would be the three most used apps if they were?

iMessage especially has a chance to eclipse Twitter if Apple continues to build it out. If you define social as asymmetrical social web services Apple absolutely doesn't get it. If you count actual conversations, text and media messages, and long form emails/letters, they seem to be doing alright.

Apple doesn't own phone calls or email. They have apps for them, like they have an app for twitter.

Apple owns iMessages, which might be more important than any other IM network soon, and are already pretty widely used. It wouldn't be too hard to own phone calls the same way (a truly seamless g.722 voice call over lte and wifi would be great. I hate the audio quality of anything but wideband, especially gsm. Plus conference calling and routing features to put google voice to shame)

That would be horrible for twitter. The thought of putting such a revolutionary communication product under the control of one of the most secretive and unresponsive companies around makes me shudder.

Unresponsive to what? Their results suggest that they are making things people want.

Unresponsive to user feedback and complaints. Nowadays you can't even hope for a random Steve Jobs email.

I emailed them a complaint a month or two ago, and someone from Tim Cook's office phoned me back.

What exactly are you trying to complain about?

Unresponsive to some feedback and complaints, however the fact that the iPhone and Mac have industry leading customer satisfaction figures suggest that they're doing something right in this area.

The correct response to a customer asking or complaining about something isn't always to do exactly what they ask. To do so may impact on something that everyone else who is currently being quiet values in it's current form.

Of course you can't, he's dead dude.

"Sure, iTunes software is terrific"

It is? I don't use it, I find it too be to heavy.

It's not, trust me ... I use it and dread every encounter.

Too heavy for what? Playing music? Sure, yeah it's way too heavy for just that. You have to consider all of its functionality and why it was made though.

Movies, music, podcasts, radio, TV, device syncing, iTunes store...etc.

Terrific I guess is a subjective thing, but considering what the software does for so many people that want/need to use it, I'd say that it HAS to be terrific.

I'd be interested in seeing what the acquisition would do to apple's stock price

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