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"Behind every great fortune there is a crime." - Honore de Balzac This is getting a bit tiresome. Tiresome to hear about, tiresome to watch, and certainly tire

by ary 16y ago

"Behind every great fortune there is a crime." - Honore de Balzac This is getting a bit tiresome. Tiresome to hear about, tiresome to watch, and certainly tiresome to think about. At a gut level I think this isn't the last contest for ownership of something with debatable value. 500,000,000 sets of eyeballs have quite a bit of potential, but what guarantee is there of revenue? Facebook, like Paris Hilton, is popular for being popular. Why is Facebook valuable? No one can say. This is lost on just about everyone. I suppose I could have just noted that it would be nice if they'd do something worth talking about once in a while instead of getting sued at an interval.

n8agrin 16y ago
I'm pretty sure Facebook has been cash flow positive for a while. Here's the Techcrunch article about it from nearly a year ago: http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/15/facebook-crosses-300-million-users-oh-yeah-and-their-cash-flow-just-went-positive/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/15/facebook-crosses-300-millio... Also here's a report from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65H01W20100618 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65H01W20100618 Well, at least you got to quote Monsieur Balzac. Hell of a name.
- ary 16y ago
  I was aware of Facebook's profitability when I made the post. I still take issue with whether or not they've provided anything of value. When one gives search terms to Google one gets back search results. When one gives personal information to Facebook what does one get in return? As for the retaliatory down-voting, way to stay classy people.
  - matwood 16y ago
    I wouldn't have down voted you, but anyway. FBs value is in connecting people. Humans are social by nature and FB extends that social nature out many orders of magnitude. Like you, I do wonder if the value is being over hyped. Who needs or even wants 100s of 'friends?' Real friends take time and effort and I wonder if we'll see backlash where people get back to less friends, but closer relationships.
    - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
      I'd like to see all of this go towards Opera's "peernet" style of interaction (which I got over-excited about before, http://alicious.com/2009/opera-about-to-change-the-world/ http://alicious.com/2009/opera-about-to-change-the-world/). Basically I'm thinking that a browser-server holds your facebook style profile and mediates access to files on your computer (like photos, videos, or anything you like). Your profile could be minimally cached with a lookup service (like linkedin) which would redirect to your browser-server if you're online or provide an "user is offline" page at other times. Various services could cache your locally held content. Basically a decentralised version of FB where each user has their profile on their own computer - like the move from file repos to (torrent) trackers.

by ary 16y ago

n8agrin 16y ago

I'm pretty sure Facebook has been cash flow positive for a while. Here's the Techcrunch article about it from nearly a year ago: http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/15/facebook-crosses-300-million-users-oh-yeah-and-their-cash-flow-just-went-positive/ http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/15/facebook-crosses-300-millio... Also here's a report from Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65H01W20100618 http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65H01W20100618 Well, at least you got to quote Monsieur Balzac. Hell of a name.

ary 16y ago
I was aware of Facebook's profitability when I made the post. I still take issue with whether or not they've provided anything of value. When one gives search terms to Google one gets back search results. When one gives personal information to Facebook what does one get in return? As for the retaliatory down-voting, way to stay classy people.
- matwood 16y ago
  I wouldn't have down voted you, but anyway. FBs value is in connecting people. Humans are social by nature and FB extends that social nature out many orders of magnitude. Like you, I do wonder if the value is being over hyped. Who needs or even wants 100s of 'friends?' Real friends take time and effort and I wonder if we'll see backlash where people get back to less friends, but closer relationships.
  - pbhjpbhj 16y ago
    I'd like to see all of this go towards Opera's "peernet" style of interaction (which I got over-excited about before, http://alicious.com/2009/opera-about-to-change-the-world/ http://alicious.com/2009/opera-about-to-change-the-world/). Basically I'm thinking that a browser-server holds your facebook style profile and mediates access to files on your computer (like photos, videos, or anything you like). Your profile could be minimally cached with a lookup service (like linkedin) which would redirect to your browser-server if you're online or provide an "user is offline" page at other times. Various services could cache your locally held content. Basically a decentralised version of FB where each user has their profile on their own computer - like the move from file repos to (torrent) trackers.