4 ms·

Are there any examples when an acquisition actually led to improved value for the users rather than ruined or straight killed the product?

madeofpalk 4y ago
Github. Apple buying Workflow to build it into the OS as Shortcuts.
dvfjsdhgfv 4y ago
Why should they? Acquisition today means: you have managed to become a threat to us, so we buy you so that this threat disappears. I just hope Adobe doesn't buy Affinity.
- esskay 4y ago
  Buying Afilinity would 100% lead to antitrust.
infinityplus1 4y ago
Github gained actions, sponsors etc. and keeps getting more new features. Whatsapp got E2E chats and group video calls and handles communications for a huge amount of people.
- d3nj4l 4y ago
  WhatsApp also got significantly worse over time: copycat features like stories which add bloat in an effort to boost "engagement", businesses using WhatsApp for the thing we all knew was eventually going to happen i.e. ads over WhatsApp, and the new privacy policy and deeper integration with facebook nobody asked for.
  - infinityplus1 4y ago
    Stories is in a separate tab. I just ignore it most of the time and never post anything myself. Accessing businesses on Whatsapp is kinda nice and convenient. I can enter a restaurant's phone number and see their menu easily. I also use Whatsapp to access bank statements which is super fast and easy compared to the bank's own app. As for the privacy policy, it's like WinRAR. You just close the popup and forget about it. I've been closing the policy popup since months and don't even notice it much.
    - d3nj4l 4y ago
      You're just lucky that business haven't started using WhatsApp to send you unsolicited ads. This is becoming more and more common in India - I received no less than three messages this month from businesses I've never used.
  - sph 4y ago
    LOL I use WhatsApp daily and I completely forgot about Stories. I just checked, just one of my hundred contacts on there had a recent story update. What a load of nonsense. Then Facebook tried to do the same with Instagram.
njovin 4y ago
I think Github has held up pretty well.
- creshal 4y ago
  Compared to anything bought by Adobe, sure, but it's not really doing all that impressive compared to Gitlab.
  - sofixa 4y ago
    I disagree. GitLab is a lot better and has many more features, but GitHub has managed to close the gap significantly. Before MS bought them they weren't even close to being close and had stagnated for years, and now there's a bunch of major new features (mostly playing catch-up, the only differentiator they have is Copilot), at the expense of stability.
javajosh 4y ago
MS's acquisition of Github seems to be going okay, and has arguably increased user value. It's hard to say what MS is getting out of the deal, though; the mistrust of MS runs deeply given its history, so the biggest strikes in this deal are speculation about what MS is doing with the massive trove of Github developer and code-over-time data. IMHO the longer MS owns Github without hurting or exploiting its users, they are restoring lost trust with devs, but there are lots of devs who can/will never really trust MS or anything it touches (which TBH is a pretty safe bet).
dagw 4y ago
Powerpoint, Google Earth and Android are three that I use all the time and instantly spring to mind. edit: Hotmail can arguably be on that list. Revit should probably also qualify
DoctorOW 4y ago
Does YouTube count? I know it's had it's controversy but it's still miles better than if it hadn't been acquired.
missedthecue 4y ago
Minecraft. Ring doorbells.

madeofpalk 4y ago

Github. Apple buying Workflow to build it into the OS as Shortcuts.

dvfjsdhgfv 4y ago

Why should they? Acquisition today means: you have managed to become a threat to us, so we buy you so that this threat disappears. I just hope Adobe doesn't buy Affinity.

esskay 4y ago
Buying Afilinity would 100% lead to antitrust.

infinityplus1 4y ago

Github gained actions, sponsors etc. and keeps getting more new features. Whatsapp got E2E chats and group video calls and handles communications for a huge amount of people.

d3nj4l 4y ago
WhatsApp also got significantly worse over time: copycat features like stories which add bloat in an effort to boost "engagement", businesses using WhatsApp for the thing we all knew was eventually going to happen i.e. ads over WhatsApp, and the new privacy policy and deeper integration with facebook nobody asked for.
- infinityplus1 4y ago
  Stories is in a separate tab. I just ignore it most of the time and never post anything myself. Accessing businesses on Whatsapp is kinda nice and convenient. I can enter a restaurant's phone number and see their menu easily. I also use Whatsapp to access bank statements which is super fast and easy compared to the bank's own app. As for the privacy policy, it's like WinRAR. You just close the popup and forget about it. I've been closing the policy popup since months and don't even notice it much.
  - d3nj4l 4y ago
    You're just lucky that business haven't started using WhatsApp to send you unsolicited ads. This is becoming more and more common in India - I received no less than three messages this month from businesses I've never used.
- sph 4y ago
  LOL I use WhatsApp daily and I completely forgot about Stories. I just checked, just one of my hundred contacts on there had a recent story update. What a load of nonsense. Then Facebook tried to do the same with Instagram.

njovin 4y ago

I think Github has held up pretty well.

creshal 4y ago
Compared to anything bought by Adobe, sure, but it's not really doing all that impressive compared to Gitlab.
- sofixa 4y ago
  I disagree. GitLab is a lot better and has many more features, but GitHub has managed to close the gap significantly. Before MS bought them they weren't even close to being close and had stagnated for years, and now there's a bunch of major new features (mostly playing catch-up, the only differentiator they have is Copilot), at the expense of stability.

javajosh 4y ago

MS's acquisition of Github seems to be going okay, and has arguably increased user value. It's hard to say what MS is getting out of the deal, though; the mistrust of MS runs deeply given its history, so the biggest strikes in this deal are speculation about what MS is doing with the massive trove of Github developer and code-over-time data. IMHO the longer MS owns Github without hurting or exploiting its users, they are restoring lost trust with devs, but there are lots of devs who can/will never really trust MS or anything it touches (which TBH is a pretty safe bet).

dagw 4y ago

Powerpoint, Google Earth and Android are three that I use all the time and instantly spring to mind. edit: Hotmail can arguably be on that list. Revit should probably also qualify

DoctorOW 4y ago

Does YouTube count? I know it's had it's controversy but it's still miles better than if it hadn't been acquired.

missedthecue 4y ago

Minecraft. Ring doorbells.