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0 pointscheriot4y ago0 comments

Then they lacked the imagination. The Facebook app would have become a web browser where Facebook controls user auth, contacts and then payments. Big $$$

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scarface744y ago

By 2009, Apple and Amazon already had more credit cards on file than any other company in the US if not the world. In Apple’s case because of iTunes, before the App Store and Amazon because Amazon. Why would you use FB for payments when you were probably either shopping on Amazon, Apple or EBay using PayPal?

cheriotOP4y ago

In this path, people would be interacting with games/content in Facebook "apps" that are effectively mobile web pages. Facebook would have control inside their garden.

As soon as any Facebook app convinced a user to pay, all other facebook apps would have a seamless checkout.

Getting user financials isn't easy but we've seen the rise of Venmo, Robinhood, and Neobanks since then so it's doable.

scarface744y ago

By 2009, mobile was clearly the future. But the phones were underpowered and didn’t run web pages well. Even today, most of the world is browsing the internet on low end phones where the web provides a sub par experience.

Desktop penetration is lower outside of the US. Aren’t Internet cafes still a thing in much of the world because people don’t have computers at home?

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HWR_144y ago

In 2009 neither Apple nor Amazon allowed P2P payments.

scarface744y ago

Peer to peer payments is still not a big deal compared to consumer to business spending. Even if you consider eBay to be P2P, it still mostly went through PayPal.

bryan_w4y ago

>would have become a web browser

Not on iOS where that sort of thing is prohibited. Sure they could put a skin over safari, but apple would have banned the entire FB app as soon as they found a developer's app they didn't like.

deckard14y ago

I always wondered: why is Apple allowing WeChat to exist? Their mini apps seem in direct competition with the app store. Is this a China political thing? Are they worried about losing all access to the market there? It seems clear Apple is not applying their own rules consistently. If that's the case, wouldn't there also be anti-trust implications here?

piggybox4y ago

I can bet if Apple banned WeChat, most people in China would switch to Android. Apple doesn't apply the same privacy rule in all countries as well. It's all about business, never about consistency.

dbtc4y ago

But apple can pull the plug on it, right? It would hurt business of course, but it's probably a good position to have that hypothetical power.

Thorentis4y ago

> Is this a China political thing?

Yes.

ipaddr4y ago

Apple would have lost the mainstream user back then. Now they have power over facebook

scarface744y ago

That’s the same thing Adobe thought when Flash wouldn’t work in the iPhone.

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scarface744y ago

cheriotOP4y ago

In this path, people would be interacting with games/content in Facebook "apps" that are effectively mobile web pages. Facebook would have control inside their garden.

As soon as any Facebook app convinced a user to pay, all other facebook apps would have a seamless checkout.

Getting user financials isn't easy but we've seen the rise of Venmo, Robinhood, and Neobanks since then so it's doable.

scarface744y ago

Desktop penetration is lower outside of the US. Aren’t Internet cafes still a thing in much of the world because people don’t have computers at home?

1 more reply

HWR_144y ago

In 2009 neither Apple nor Amazon allowed P2P payments.

scarface744y ago

Peer to peer payments is still not a big deal compared to consumer to business spending. Even if you consider eBay to be P2P, it still mostly went through PayPal.

bryan_w4y ago

>would have become a web browser

Not on iOS where that sort of thing is prohibited. Sure they could put a skin over safari, but apple would have banned the entire FB app as soon as they found a developer's app they didn't like.

deckard14y ago

piggybox4y ago

I can bet if Apple banned WeChat, most people in China would switch to Android. Apple doesn't apply the same privacy rule in all countries as well. It's all about business, never about consistency.

dbtc4y ago

But apple can pull the plug on it, right? It would hurt business of course, but it's probably a good position to have that hypothetical power.

Thorentis4y ago

> Is this a China political thing?

Yes.

ipaddr4y ago

Apple would have lost the mainstream user back then. Now they have power over facebook

scarface744y ago

That’s the same thing Adobe thought when Flash wouldn’t work in the iPhone.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse