A Sea Of Red

There is a great article about Facebook and the genius it really is in Fast Company. Explains why there has been so many changes and talks about the future...including "This year we're going to slay the dragon...google" (paraphrase)

Something I tweeted today Google (one of my fav companies of all time) has 10,000 engineers for 800 million users....FB has 30 for 350 million users. Says a lot for their productivity and ability to get things done.

PS if you want to know the history of how it started here's another article by FC...one of the best articles I've ever read

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115 ... t-ceo.html

Here's the article I was talking about though:

http://www.fastcompany.com/mic/2010/profile/facebook

Something else I thought was interesting was more external links are clicked via Facebook than Google. Insane fact there.

Likewise with Twitter ... what links would you choose?

1. Links generated by formulas calculated by technogeeks in Silicon Valley
2. Links the friends with whom you share affinities

That choice is obvious. The key to success moving forward is who is the most agile in reacting to breakthroughs. AOL & MSN once were kings of the online world and look at their positions now as they have been forced to reinvent themselves to compete. Geolocation is just the first of a number of elements that are about to shake up the online world.

Hold My Own wrote:There is a great article about Facebook and the genius it really is in Fast Company. Explains why there has been so many changes and talks about the future...including "This year we're going to slay the dragon...google" (paraphrase)

Something I tweeted today Google (one of my fav companies of all time) has 10,000 engineers for 800 million users....FB has 30 for 350 million users. Says a lot for their productivity and ability to get things done.

PS if you want to know the history of how it started here's another article by FC...one of the best articles I've ever read

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115 ... t-ceo.html

Here's the article I was talking about though:

http://www.fastcompany.com/mic/2010/profile/facebook

The whole skew in engineers is deceptive though. Google is linking to all types of info all over the internet and develops some of their own content. Facebook is user driven info and most apps are developed by third parties. FB was a genious idea, but Google is the biggest player (for now)...

Without a doubt. Goog e is the "Dragon" and will continue to be simply because they are not locked into just one genre while FB is pretty landlocked with their ability to expand.


Facebook is thinking more about today while Google is thinking 20 years down the road. Taking on a project of a Love match making app is far different then trying to reinvent the way a world can connect to the internet for free....or 100x the fastest internet currently offered.

Of course being shortsighted is how Microsoft lost its edge. In today's tech environment you have to be on your game everyday.

On a related note ...

Gov. Rick Perry's Facebook Page wrote:Facebook to Create 200 Jobs in Austin

Today at 9:17am

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today announced that the state will invest $1.4 million through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) for Facebook to create a sales and operations office in Austin. This investment will create 200 jobs and more than $3.1 million in capital investment. The TEF funding is conditioned upon the finalization of a local incentive agreement with the City of Austin.

“The TEF continues to be a critical, deal closing tool for Texas, helping to attract jobs and businesses and grow our state’s diverse economy,” Gov. Perry said. “Facebook’s expansion in Austin will enhance the area’s robust technology industry, create 200 jobs for Texans, and strengthen the economy in Central Texas.”

Facebook is a social networking service that enables 400 million people around the world to communicate more efficiently with friends, family and coworkers in a trusted environment. This office represents the first major U.S. expansion outside of Palo Alto, Calif., where the company is headquartered.

Click Here for Full Story

prototype wrote:FB was a genious idea...

No, Facebook was an existing concept done right. Their "genius" was in understanding what would best build out a social networking site.

I only make the distinction because I think it's important. For me (and I'd imagine a lot of people like me) it's nice to see that you don't have to be the first one with an idea or even the first to market with that idea. You just have to be the one who understands how to do it right.

*Disclaimer: This message was posted during LU business hours because I'm currently on vacation.

El Scorcho wrote:For me (and I'd imagine a lot of people like me) it's nice to see that you don't have to be the first one with an idea or even the first to market with that idea. You just have to be the one who understands how to do it right.

Steve Jobs has made a fortune on that concept.

Hold My Own wrote:while FB is pretty landlocked with their ability to expand.

It's that type of thinking that sent the railroad industry under at the beginning of last century. Too stubborn to see that you're in the transportation business as opposed to the railroad business.

LUconn wrote:

Hold My Own wrote:while FB is pretty landlocked with their ability to expand.

It's that type of thinking that sent the railroad industry under at the beginning of last century. Too stubborn to see that you're in the transportation business as opposed to the railroad business.

I don't know, I think railroad is much better off in shipping than in transportation. Not that they can't do both, but look at the airlines and Amtrak. Shipping seems to be a good place to be in. Screw Facebook and Google, we need a thread to talk about the rail industry.

I have to agree. Here's what i mean by land locked. Google was landlocked at one time too but then ventured out beyond "search" which facebook could obviously do.