Posted on 10/29/2014 8:26:15 PM PDT by zeestephen
The messaging service WhatsApp, which reached 400 million active users in December, generated less than 3 cents in revenue for each one last year...Facebook paid $55 per user when it acquired the company.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
There are so many new vehicles of data storage, retrieval and distribution. It’s not surprising that some will have to wait to become famous, as the field in becoming close to saturated. We still don’t know what the net effect of Google Glass will be on the viewing public. We don’t know how 3-D printing will change things either. It takes a while for society to realize what is already at it’s virtual fingertips and incorporate the new abilities.
Facebook - bought the wrong app - they should have bought LINE - a much better app all the way around... By far LINE is the best way to send photos to friends and relatives that there is ... tag and send photos in seconds and even edit the photo if wanted. LINE has excellent Video Call capability and voice call too - both done over WiFi. And the interactive Chat makes using texting/SMS prehistoric... and it is FREE.
I saw an excellent article (wish I could find it again) explaining how all this tech craziness - Amazon’s invested capital basically equalling its total sales, with zero profits, Google’s expensive project for driverless cars, and now Facebook’s ridiculous purchase of WhatsApp - all the side effects of a pipeline of cheap money at zero interest rates from the FED.
Speaking of 3D printing...
Dell Computer sends me a weekly email ad.
They are now selling two different 3D printers, both under $500 as I recall.
That is definitely mainstreaming.
Totally agree.
Aquiring Whats App was a major mistake.
3D’s are under $500. already? They must be rather simple to construct. At this rate, 3D printers will be as common as Toasters and Telephones within two years (or less).
That means, we will need a about 6000 websites full of new laws that control how people use these “Thing-Makers”. The regulations probably will not happen for a long time. Look at the internet, it’s still largely unregulated and next to impossible to control in any open society.
“That is definitely mainstreaming.”
Only if anyone buys them. I just wait 2-4 years and get all my Dell equipment for under $80... and in very good condition from the state surplus warehouse. :-)
Since they have COA’s on them all I need to do is download the OS and drivers FREE.... or I can buy a restore disk for about $15 on ebay and get it up and running in an hour.
See, state government is worth something.
I want to say:
Ha Ha!
Amazon has not made consistent profit, but they have a valid business model and have decided to full bore invest in complimentary businesses.
Some of the tech companies just bewilder me as to how they have garnered such massive buyouts on what is quite a limited income stream or even usefulness.
More fraud. No way there are 400 million active users.
Facebook claims over 900 million users.
Think of the population of the USA / Europe. No way that all have an account.
Glad the thief Mark Zuckerberg is losing money on this.
how many of those accounts are inactive? How many have more than one account? How many are businesses and stuff?
The point is - would Amazon be able to develop as it did, if “safe” treasury rates, or real interest rates were not 1%-2%, but 7%-8% or more? Would investors continue to fund a long-term profitless company? Or would they demand a different business model?
Would there even have been a tech bubble?
Would Amazon have been able to finance all the physical investments and technology they have?
Would the American consumer have been able to support such rampant consumerism that supported Amazon if debt was not so easily available?
these are all “what ifs” that simply point to how the price of money (especially if its politicized and artificial) has many unseen and long-term effects - not only on business and technology, but society as a whole.
3D’s are under $500. already?
...
Don’t get too excited. Like inkjets, the “ink” will end up costing much more than the printer.
My wife’s relatives in India are nuts about WhatsApp.
I understand that. What I don’t understand is some of the tech acquisitions in general. They seem quite out if whack with reality.
I don’t have a Facebook account. I use my wife’s if i want to post something. Neither of us do much posting anyway. i read our timeline every few days.
Most of it is nonsense anyway. Why do I care about most of what people do? Even my ‘friends’.
I totally screwed up on the price.
They cost $800 and $2900.
Here’s the link:
http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&cs=&cat=all&k=3d+printer&ref=ac
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