Facebook is the number one social networking site in the world. Garnering the lion’s share in the social networking online arena, Facebook has taken command of the online friend networking scene in just over six years and the population of its avid followers continue to grow by leaps and bounds. In fact almost everyone have their own Facebook accounts, even groups, bands, associations, events, and whatever entity you can ever come up with, has its own Facebook profile account. My neighbor’s dog has one, just to add to the proclivity of almost everyone to this infamous online communal set of connections.
On the technology side of things, Steve Jobs has built a Helm’s Deep of his own, a massive stronghold of products and technology hinged on exclusivity and inimitability. Apple products – the pioneer iPod, the iPod Touch, the smartphone iPhone proud with its own operating system the iOS and now the newly released iOS4, and the benchmark of all tablet PCs the iPad – all are unique and singular in design, function, technology, development, and upgrade method. Apple has been very consistent with its stringent standards in software and hardware development barring any external cross-pollination of tools and machinery even in the face of possible sales loss. Apple’s walled method was a risk at the onset, veering away from the mainstream and it worked for them quite well cornering a huge chunk of the mobile market.
These two giant firms are fine examples of business ventures gone great. And there are talks of Facebook and Apple integrating through Apple’s music social networking service Ping. Discussions between the two regarding a possible merger started eighteen months before Ping was introduced to the public but there sketchy reports of the downfall of the negotiations due to Facebook’s alleged “abrasive” behavior while on the negotiating table. This assertion was somewhat confirmed by Steve Jobs announcement on the launching day of Ping in time with the unveiling of iTunes10 stating that the iTunes service was not solely connected to Facebook because the social network site was negotiating in “onerous terms”. He also mentioned that there were attempts to come up with an assortment of joint venture opportunities but somehow they could not reach a common ground.
Nevertheless, Facebook’s chief technology officer Bret Taylor is still very optimistic that despite the hurdles in their recent talks, he is quite convinced that the social network company will be able to find a way to make the integration between the two companies work. However the optimism is still left hanging since the Faceook CTO did not mention any deadline for a collusion between them and Apple.
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