So the TL;DR version of the article is "so Apple can become a player in social" but it never address the question as to whether that's actually something that Apple would want to / need to do.<p>To me this move would suck of Microsoft buying Hotmail, or getting into search or Messenger or any one of the things they go into when the internet started booming and they worried that they were getting left behind. And what's happened since? Microsoft have lost money hand over fist on them with little genuine strategic gain other than saying that they were in those spaces.<p>Social is a pretty rapidly evolving space at the moment but other than Facebook is anyone really making money there? Google have made several plays with limited success, Twitter is interesting but has an unclear business model and most of the social start ups range from the uninspiring to the niche to the sort of thing that Facebook is just going to copy and crush if it takes off.<p>And even Facebook, anecdotally at least, seems to be getting tired. I hear so many people talking of irritation with it, drifting away, even closing accounts. The figures continue to show growth but among the sort of people who were early adopters I'm personally seeing a complete lack of engagement with it.<p>So yes, it would make Apple a player in social but really, is that something they want?<p>In terms of keeping it out of the hands of Google or Facebook or whoever, if you think it's a good acquisition, you should buy it because of that. If you think it's a bad acquisition then you shouldn't care, in fact you should probably want them to buy it to have them waste a billion dollars.<p>Oh, and I loved the idea "they fix Ping and monitize it". Is it just me or is this MBA speak for "Buy Twitter, ?????, PROFIT!!!".
> No, I am not suggesting Apple buy Facebook. (Zuckerberg has his own path to travel, and it does not go through Cupertino).<p>Who is this guy? Yoda? Or Nostradamus?
Ritholtz doesn't say it, but I would add "and then they should put Jack Dorsey on the fast track to CEO."<p>Dorsey's one of the few CEOs out there who looks like he could be the next Jobs. I'm not saying he's ready to run Apple yet - but it might not take long before he is.
Lets not forget that Apple already owns three of the most popular social "Apps"<p>- iMessage<p>- Phone<p>- Mail<p>Because they come stock on the device, they don't show up on leaderboards or get called out on user numbers, but is there any doubt that those would be the three most used apps if they were?<p>iMessage especially has a chance to eclipse Twitter if Apple continues to build it out. If you define social as asymmetrical social web services Apple absolutely doesn't get it. If you count actual conversations, text and media messages, and long form emails/letters, they seem to be doing alright.
That would be horrible for twitter. The thought of putting such a revolutionary communication product under the control of one of the most secretive and unresponsive companies around makes me shudder.