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It's fun to see everyone arguing about what "everyone" thought.. when... we can just... look... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3817840 https://news.ycombi

It's fun to see everyone arguing about what "everyone" thought.. when... we can just... look... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3817840 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3817840 is a fun thread from 2012. The top reply to the top comment has some useful quotes for the purposes of this discussion... > This is not going to be one of the best tech acquisitions of the next decade. > Instagram is a photo service in a sea of other photo services. > Bookmark this comment. See you in 2022. Heh.

Larrikin 1y ago
The top comment compares it to YouTube.
- spease 1y ago
  Back then Google was trying to be social. Remember Google+? https://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1523.html https://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1523.html
  - waste_monk 1y ago
    > Remember Google+? How about Google People? [1] [1] https://qntm.org/perso https://qntm.org/perso
    - davedigerati 1y ago
      how about Google Buzz? https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-buzz.html?m=1 https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-b...
      - DrFalkyn 1y ago
        How about Google Wave ? https://support.google.com/answer/1083134?hl=en https://support.google.com/answer/1083134?hl=en
        mgiampapa 1y ago
        How about Google Orkut? https://support.google.com/orkut/?hl=en https://support.google.com/orkut/?hl=en
threatofrain 1y ago
Those people aren't putting in their own money. The people who did put their money into Instagram got to see behind the corporate covers, and they decided to buy anyway. It's very easy to say whether you'd invest $1B if you're not putting in any of your money.
MichaelDickens 1y ago
I think you are being selective. I looked at the top 10 top-level comments and by my judgment: 1. bullish 2. bullish 3. neutral 4. neutral 5. neutral 6. neutral 7. bullish 8. bearish 9. bearish 10. neutral Of the top top-level comments, you have to go all the way to #8 to find a bearish comment. Replies to the top comment are more bearish because they're directly responding to a bullish sentiment.
- TimPC 1y ago
  On the other hand the top ten comments as a whole are 3 bullish, 5 neutral, 2 bearish which is certainly not an overwhelming sentiment in any direction. That's despite the fact that bullish comments on start-ups tend to get more votes because it's a start-up community.
- Aunche 1y ago
  Sure, plenty of people thought that it was a good purchase, but my point is nobody thought of it as buying out their competition. The transition into a social media platform and algorithmic content machine occurred under Facebook's direction.
Finbel 1y ago
> "Where's the money in Instagram?" Preventing Instagram from developing into something that has a negative effect on Facebook. It's a "keep your enemies closer" move. - Larrys 2012
pjc50 1y ago
HN is notorious for this kind of thing, such as the iPod: "less space than a nomad, no wireless, lame". Due to not understanding how much consumers value simplicity.
- Cthulhu_ 1y ago
  It's a recurring cognitive dissonance between cynical tech people and the actual mass market. I mean I'm cynical about most things but the ones that aren't and who get onto the hype train earn big money off of it.
- latexr 1y ago
  Every time I see a comment accusing HN of having some specific consensual position like a hive mind, I go back and see comments both contradicting and supporting the stance. In other words, different opinions. Every single time I check, and every single time it shows the original commenter engaged in selection bias. This case is particularly wrong, as that iPod quote is from Slashdot. HN didn’t even exist in 2001. https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-ipod https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-i...
  - lesuorac 1y ago
    But hindsight of HN is different from hindsight of FaceBook. FaceBook was literally collecting data on what apps people were using on their phones and empirically saw the rise of Instagram. Of course the rise of Instagram didn't need to continue but that's why you buy all the realistic competitors so even if most of them fail you have a moat of dead companies.
- mongol 1y ago
  To be fair, the iPod comment was on Slashdot
- TimPC 1y ago
  After trying to set up wireless on my printer interface and enter a password with up and down arrows rotating through an entire set of keys, I'm fairly convinced that no wireless on the iPod was massively correct. If people were expected to set up wifi by entering a password with a rotation device adoption would be miniscule.
isaacremuant 1y ago
You took "everyone" literally but it's actually like "a lot/majority held the opinion/it was easy to see". The top comment compares it to YouTube as a great acquisition.

Larrikin 1y ago

The top comment compares it to YouTube.

spease 1y ago
Back then Google was trying to be social. Remember Google+? https://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1523.html https://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1523.html
- waste_monk 1y ago
  > Remember Google+? How about Google People? [1] [1] https://qntm.org/perso https://qntm.org/perso
  - davedigerati 1y ago
    how about Google Buzz? https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-buzz.html?m=1 https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-b...
    - DrFalkyn 1y ago
      How about Google Wave ? https://support.google.com/answer/1083134?hl=en https://support.google.com/answer/1083134?hl=en
      - mgiampapa 1y ago
        How about Google Orkut? https://support.google.com/orkut/?hl=en https://support.google.com/orkut/?hl=en

threatofrain 1y ago

Those people aren't putting in their own money. The people who did put their money into Instagram got to see behind the corporate covers, and they decided to buy anyway. It's very easy to say whether you'd invest $1B if you're not putting in any of your money.

MichaelDickens 1y ago

I think you are being selective. I looked at the top 10 top-level comments and by my judgment: 1. bullish 2. bullish 3. neutral 4. neutral 5. neutral 6. neutral 7. bullish 8. bearish 9. bearish 10. neutral Of the top top-level comments, you have to go all the way to #8 to find a bearish comment. Replies to the top comment are more bearish because they're directly responding to a bullish sentiment.

TimPC 1y ago
On the other hand the top ten comments as a whole are 3 bullish, 5 neutral, 2 bearish which is certainly not an overwhelming sentiment in any direction. That's despite the fact that bullish comments on start-ups tend to get more votes because it's a start-up community.
Aunche 1y ago
Sure, plenty of people thought that it was a good purchase, but my point is nobody thought of it as buying out their competition. The transition into a social media platform and algorithmic content machine occurred under Facebook's direction.

Finbel 1y ago

> "Where's the money in Instagram?" Preventing Instagram from developing into something that has a negative effect on Facebook. It's a "keep your enemies closer" move. - Larrys 2012

pjc50 1y ago

HN is notorious for this kind of thing, such as the iPod: "less space than a nomad, no wireless, lame". Due to not understanding how much consumers value simplicity.

Cthulhu_ 1y ago
It's a recurring cognitive dissonance between cynical tech people and the actual mass market. I mean I'm cynical about most things but the ones that aren't and who get onto the hype train earn big money off of it.
latexr 1y ago
Every time I see a comment accusing HN of having some specific consensual position like a hive mind, I go back and see comments both contradicting and supporting the stance. In other words, different opinions. Every single time I check, and every single time it shows the original commenter engaged in selection bias. This case is particularly wrong, as that iPod quote is from Slashdot. HN didn’t even exist in 2001. https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-ipod https://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-i...
- lesuorac 1y ago
  But hindsight of HN is different from hindsight of FaceBook. FaceBook was literally collecting data on what apps people were using on their phones and empirically saw the rise of Instagram. Of course the rise of Instagram didn't need to continue but that's why you buy all the realistic competitors so even if most of them fail you have a moat of dead companies.
mongol 1y ago
To be fair, the iPod comment was on Slashdot
TimPC 1y ago
After trying to set up wireless on my printer interface and enter a password with up and down arrows rotating through an entire set of keys, I'm fairly convinced that no wireless on the iPod was massively correct. If people were expected to set up wifi by entering a password with a rotation device adoption would be miniscule.

isaacremuant 1y ago

You took "everyone" literally but it's actually like "a lot/majority held the opinion/it was easy to see". The top comment compares it to YouTube as a great acquisition.