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I see it as closer to the Amazon pivot from selling physical goods to selling digital goods (using digital as an umbrella encompassing AWS, Kindle, Prime (which

by gz5 5y ago

I see it as closer to the Amazon pivot from selling physical goods to selling digital goods (using digital as an umbrella encompassing AWS, Kindle, Prime (which essentially digitizes fulfillment and delivery), etc.). FB sold users to advertisers. Very Web 2.0. Well the potential decentralization of Web3 potentially destroys that business model and the Meta strategy seems like it reflects this potential change in the way Amazon saw the world going to digital?

r00fus 5y ago
Very not so. Amazon was merely making available externally to others the very production line that they used to make their own site (at a very healthy profit). What in world is Mark offering here? He's investing $10B into... what? AWS/Cloud was a reasonable business pitch (which seemed crazy but essentially: outsource your IT ops to AWS and we can help you scale like crazy very quickly). What's Mark's pitch here? VR is nowhere near prime-time - just read around even on HN. It's got major issues and still lacks a killer app. It's a vanity project that only a fantastically rich, out of touch person can indulge in. That or FB is toxic.
rory 5y ago
The Amazon comparison is apt, but I think Apple shifting revenue from hardware to services is a better one. Apple was able to catch the paradigm shift of us starting to use our phones for everything, and make loads of money by offering services to a captive audience and sharecropping opportunities to app developers. Facebook tried to become a platform during the last paradigm shift and failed. Selling users to advertisers has been lucrative but clearly isn't as sticky as the platform model (which is why they have to keep buying up their competitors). So they're trying to push another shift to VR and be the platform for that.
- gz5 5y ago
  Apple is nice comparison. Apple leveraged the power of its brand in that transition (and created a flywheel of sorts to strengthen its brand), whereas the current FB brand wouldn't likely extend as well. So helps show one reason why FB likely saw the need to change naming and start building a new brand (whereas Apple (and Amazon) went the other way).
  - jensensbutton 5y ago
    I'd argue Apply leveraged lock-in and the power of defaults.

by gz5 5y ago

r00fus 5y ago

Very not so. Amazon was merely making available externally to others the very production line that they used to make their own site (at a very healthy profit). What in world is Mark offering here? He's investing $10B into... what? AWS/Cloud was a reasonable business pitch (which seemed crazy but essentially: outsource your IT ops to AWS and we can help you scale like crazy very quickly). What's Mark's pitch here? VR is nowhere near prime-time - just read around even on HN. It's got major issues and still lacks a killer app. It's a vanity project that only a fantastically rich, out of touch person can indulge in. That or FB is toxic.

rory 5y ago

The Amazon comparison is apt, but I think Apple shifting revenue from hardware to services is a better one. Apple was able to catch the paradigm shift of us starting to use our phones for everything, and make loads of money by offering services to a captive audience and sharecropping opportunities to app developers. Facebook tried to become a platform during the last paradigm shift and failed. Selling users to advertisers has been lucrative but clearly isn't as sticky as the platform model (which is why they have to keep buying up their competitors). So they're trying to push another shift to VR and be the platform for that.

gz5 5y ago
Apple is nice comparison. Apple leveraged the power of its brand in that transition (and created a flywheel of sorts to strengthen its brand), whereas the current FB brand wouldn't likely extend as well. So helps show one reason why FB likely saw the need to change naming and start building a new brand (whereas Apple (and Amazon) went the other way).
- jensensbutton 5y ago
  I'd argue Apply leveraged lock-in and the power of defaults.