Facebook looking at buying Opera? I sure hope not!

[Himagain]

Originally Posted by SpamZero

.... for their reputation for locking accounts without reason... .

Also, their homepage offers one of those "Login with Facebook" links.

[kijinbear]

Originally Posted by ioneja

How about a Kickstarter campaign?

Call me a pessimist, but I don't think plain old e-mail is "cool" enough to attract the attention of Kickstarter investors. Every Kickstarter page I've seen tries desperately to highlight how the product in question is radically different from everything else out there. If somebody claimed to be able to replace e-mail altogether with some newfangled proprietary protocol, they might get funding. But that kind of radical change is the last thing most FM users want. Conservatism of that sort, no matter how valuable, doesn't play nicely with Kickstarter's culture.

[vivil]

X days ago, WUALA was officially bought by SEAGATE... bad news never stay quicky alone omg.

in 3 years, fastmail will include big emoticon images as incredimail

:-X :-> 8) ^^ /\@@/\

[ioneja]

Originally Posted by kijinbear

Call me a pessimist, but I don't think plain old e-mail is "cool" enough to attract the attention of Kickstarter investors. Every Kickstarter page I've seen tries desperately to highlight how the product in question is radically different from everything else out there. If somebody claimed to be able to replace e-mail altogether with some newfangled proprietary protocol, they might get funding. But that kind of radical change is the last thing most FM users want. Conservatism of that sort, no matter how valuable, doesn't play nicely with Kickstarter's culture.

Well said, BUT consider that maybe there are enough supporters of FM out there that would like it to remain in its original owners' hands? Add to that enough people who despise FB.... and maybe being "retro" will be cool enough to get Kickstarter funding? Who knows? If it comes down to it, might be worth a try.

As much as I've been vocally frustrated about FM for their various issues, I sure as heck wouldn't want to see it absorbed (and/or discarded) by the FB beast.

[kijinbear]

Originally Posted by vivil

X days ago, WUALA was officially bought by SEAGATE... bad news never stay quicky alone omg.

Yeah, it seems that all the great non-American services I use are getting acquired by American companies. I really hope that EU gets its economy back in order soon, so they can offer some serious competition.

[janusz]

Facebook shares dip below $29 to new low.
Everybody's happier now?

[Shelded]

I was pretty sure I should short FB but I know I did not have the nerve to expect this much crash this soon. I definitely am happy to see it go.

[kijinbear]

Facebook shares were ridiculously overvalued to begin with. The market is just trying to find a reasonable equilibrium.

Related: Unstable stock prices will make it more difficult for Facebook to buy other companies in exchange for stock, because nobody knows how much that stock will be worth in a few weeks. Most large acquisitions are financed with both cash and stock. But if Facebook wants to buy Opera, they'll have to spend mostly cash.

(Un)fortunately, Facebook just made over $10 billion of cash thanks to the IPO, and Zuck is probably itching to spend it.

[EmailHosting]

Well, this acquisition if it happens at all won't happen anytime quickly. Google, for one thing, has quite an extensive working relationship with Opera. There may be a bidding war.

I do agree with the other posts in that Facebook would not be interested in the email piece, at least not from what I understand of Facebook's operations. The original owners of Fastmail may want to approach Facebook and repurchase the email business at a great discount if Facebook is willing to let go of it...assuming that Facebook purchases Opera in the first place.

Regardless of what happens, it appears that Facebook is already becoming a mover and shaker in the acquisition space. Succeeding in monetizing its users on the mobile platform appears to be Facebook's primary goal at this point.

Let's wait to see how this plays out.

[Terry]

Opera shares shot up as much as 26 percent on Tuesday....

[William9]

That's a sign indicating a possible buy out by someone.

[Terry]

There are other things standing in the way of a Facebook-Opera deal. Opera's founder and top shareholder, Jon S. Von Tetzchner, wants the company to focus on internal growth and says that Opera should reach 500 million users by next year. He says he is not pushing for a takeover. Still, he said he is unaware of a bid but would have to support one if others are in favor of it. One vote in favor of such a deal might come from Opera CEO Lars Boilesen. The executive last October said he would "love to" work with Facebook. Boilesen said, "We are already Facebook's platform of distribution in emerging markets like Africa and India. A big part of the Opera Mini traffic is from Facebook. So we are already their channel in these markets."

[kijinbear]

Originally Posted by Terry

Opera's founder and top shareholder, Jon S. Von Tetzchner ... would have to support one if others are in favor of it.

What other choice does he have if other shareholders want to sell? He may be the founder and former CEO, but he resigned a few years ago. He also owns only 10% of Opera, so he's at the mercy of the other 90%.

I do wonder about the future of Opera Mini, though. It basically allows Opera to see everything you do on the Internet. The only reason people trust that kind of surveillance capacity with Opera is because it's a Norwegian company with an excellent track record insofar as privacy is concerned. I doubt that many people will trust Facebook with the same kind of information.

But then again, a lot of people use Amazon Silk (a similar feature designed for the Kindle Fire) without thinking twice. The sad truth is that the majority of modern computer users don't care about privacy.

[alirezanasibi]

As I noted most of people in this thread are FM users for years. I believe FM has left us with an expectation of a powerful email server ( too many features & easy/fast to use ), so it is very difficult to source another email server replacing FM.
I suggest for possible migration from FM, let's exchange opinions which other email hosting to choose to match our most needs like those of FM.

[Bamb0]

The thread on Opera's site has been re-opened..

http://my.opera.com/community/forums...dml?id=1409562