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Facebook could have tried innovating with new types of business models and set an example. Instead...

• hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
  > Facebook could have tried innovating with new types of business models and set an example. Such as? This kind of handwavy "they could have invented something else that no one else has managed to think of" ignores the possibility that perhaps that other business model doesn't exist. Of course, they could have charged as Acton suggested, but there is no way that model would have supported their $19B purchase price.
  • taormina 8y ago
    I mean, I don't believe that in 2018, we have tried every possible business model in existence. What if I could pay $50 a year to be excluded from their advertising and tracking across the internet? $100? $10/mo? There are absolutely alternative ways of asking for payment for their service, without necessarily compromising their main revenue stream. Will they work? Who knows, because they aren't even bothering to try! EDIT: And as much as this particular conversation is throwing Facebook under the bus, I feel this holds just as true for Google and the rest of our industry as a whole with a few notable exceptions.