Facebook looking at buying Opera? I sure hope not! - Page 12

**Shelded** · 29 May 2012, 03:04 PM

I guess that means the news is broken as of that announcement.

Bamb0 · 29 May 2012, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terry

How strange a lot of f/m users don't use facebook....I don't either.

This is because we all value what privacy we can still get Terry! (Many people do not these days and thats sad)

Terry · 29 May 2012, 06:39 PM

Well at least this post has got a few people back on the forum and from the comments most people have enjoyed the features and benefits which fastmail had to offer.

Tsunami · 29 May 2012, 09:10 PM

11 pages ... OK, let's await until an official announcement comes because it seems we're just speculating here. But 11 pages in a few days time, that must be a record for a topic on this forum!

Now IMAGINE the rumour is true. What about those of us who already have used Fastmail and/or MyOpera for a while and stored important emails in there? What happens to those? I would not like to cancel my account in which I stored important mails, but I also don't want Facebook to come anywhere near my emails. I am sceptic about the dislike of some services and the hype about them, but when Facebook is concerned I'm very fanatically against it. But is there a way to keep the stored emails if FB would buy Fastmail? I would hate to lose those stored emails but also I'd hate to have anything to do with Facebook ...

Guess it's a matter of keeping fingers crossed and hear a message from FM/Opera that it's just a rumour.

I was considering upgrading my Fastmail to a paid account ; for now that is not going to happen until I clearly hear the Facebook "deal" is untrue.

B4its2L8 · 29 May 2012, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsunami

11 pages ... OK, let's await until an official announcement comes because it seems we're just speculating here.

Question(s): if this really is just a rumor, would there ever be an "official announcement" ? Or in such a case would it have already been made (to the effect that it was nothing but a rumor) ?

If, OTOH, it is not a rumor and Opera is "for sale" would we hear anything (even news that they had been contacted by FB) before any actual purchase is made (which could be months away) ?

IOW, we could all be waiting for a very... long... time. {zzzzzzzzz......}

DaveJ · 29 May 2012, 09:38 PM

Count me as another that will cancel my email account if FB buys Opera. I'm very disappointed and have been a happy FM customer since 2002.

The big question is where to move to?

NJSS · 29 May 2012, 09:42 PM

Because of Stock Exchange rules we are unlikely to see an announcement by either Opera or Facebook that negotiations are afoot.

If however there are no such negotiations then by now I would have expected to have seen a denial by both parties.

This at least gives us time to research alternative providers, and to put migration plans in hand.

Two thoughts:-

"Fail to plan = Plan to fail"

"Hope for the best - but plan for the worst"

I have found that Mailstore:-

http://www.mailstore.com/en/mailstore-home.aspx

which is free, works very well in backing up & restoring POP3 and IMAP mailboxes; I have yet to test whether it can restore & create a complicated set of nested folders on a "virgin" system.

Edited to add see:-

http://en.help.mailstore.com/MailSto...xporting_Email

Exchange Mailbox and IMAP Mailbox

Quote:

These options will allow you to export messages to an Exchange mail server or an IMAP mail server respectively. MailStore Home will create a folder structure on the server and export messages into the MailStore Home folder structure.

Note that after exporting messages, you may need to refresh the folder list in your mail client, or you may need to subscribe to the newly created folders. Please refer to your mail client's documentation for specific instructions on how to see the new folders.

NJSS

**ReuvenNY** · 29 May 2012, 09:59 PM

Please read my posting about the conspiracy theory in this thread:
http://www.emaildiscussions.com/show...d=1#post538723

**ReuvenNY** · 29 May 2012, 10:03 PM

Here is one more article about the Facebook story:

http://1dl.us/uE3

sremick · 29 May 2012, 11:10 PM

I've seen stuff like this happen before. My best guess is that there's nothing about FastMail that Facebook wants, is interested in, or cares about. It's all about Opera the browser company... the fact that Opera happens to own a little email company on the side which they acquired in recent years is so low on the list that it's probably not even reached their attention yet.

Likely, if the rumor came true and FB bought Opera, nothing would change with FM for a while, since the focus would be on "leveraging" the primary "assets" that FB actually cared about: the browser. But somewhere down the lines... maybe even a year or 2... once the dust settled, they would then come across FM and be like, "Hmmm what are we going to do about this FM thing?"

At which point, it'd probably just be shut down with about 30-90 days warning. Its value wouldn't even be worth it to FB to waste the time trying to find a buyer, given its ranking in the things FB actually cares about.

This comes from being in an almost identical situation personally with a previous employer, as well as seeing similar things with large computer/internet companies. After a few levels of acquisitions, the little accidental tag-along assets that they now own but aren't relevant just get killed off by the new mega-parent as they try to simplify/streamline/whatever-buzzword.

I detest FB but I'm more worried about FM being shut down entirely than I am about FB owning my email (which makes me nauseous as well, don't get me wrong). Even if FB put FM up for sale, the most-likely buyer would be one of FM's competitors... you know, one of those companies you considered but didn't like and chose FM instead of... who would then simply want to merge and incorporate all us FM users into their existing system, versus make use of any of FM's actual technology. The paying customer base is the real asset there... that's it. If they had wanted to make any technological changes they would've already, so they won't be looking to become "like Fastmail" all of a sudden and change their fundamental service. And of course, you'd now be subject to the buyer company's new (higher) pricing tiers, with your only option to be canceling your account.

So for now, I'm going to just pray the rumors aren't true... or if they are, that FB execs in the know are reading this thread (I'm sure they aren't)... and will be watching this thread closely as people discuss other email options, so I can have a backup plan in-mind already. I've been out of the market for shopping for email for so long, I really have no clue what's out there and what's good. Fastmail was perfect... independent, amazing anti-spam features, reliable, affordable, IMAP... I worry I won't find that again...

kinetic · 29 May 2012, 11:14 PM

Facebook does not like email. They want users to do all their communication on facebook. Email is a threat to facebooks model.

Himagain · 30 May 2012, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by denverharless

I have to say , after 11 years with Fastmail, this is the only thing that would cause me to leave. I always feared that Fastmail would just close up shop one day. I never imagined this!

10charctrs

Himagain · 30 May 2012, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfnaaron

pair.com is one possibility. I used them years ago with no complaints. I used procmail for filtering and had access to spamassassin.

I don't think I want to help fund pair.com either:
http://watch.pair.com/

Am still in the process of gathering alternatives, but RunBox looks good at first glance.

kijinbear · 30 May 2012, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Himagain

I don't think I want to help fund pair.com either:
http://watch.pair.com/

Are you sure that's actually run by pair.com, not some random customer they took on a decade ago? A lot of web hosting companies hand out subdomains to customers.

Also, it's loading pretty fast for me. Good servers.

/ totally off topic

ioneja · 30 May 2012, 01:40 AM

I'm hoping that if this rumor is actually true, that the original FM team will figure out some way to raise the money to buy FM back from Opera, to go solo again...

How about a Kickstarter campaign?

29 May 2012, 03:04 PM	#166
Shelded Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: USA Northwest Posts: 3,849	I guess that means the news is broken as of that announcement.

29 May 2012, 06:39 PM	#168
Terry The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: VK4 Posts: 3,029	Well at least this post has got a few people back on the forum and from the comments most people have enjoyed the features and benefits which fastmail had to offer.

29 May 2012, 09:10 PM	#169
Tsunami The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown Posts: 2,341	11 pages ... OK, let's await until an official announcement comes because it seems we're just speculating here. But 11 pages in a few days time, that must be a record for a topic on this forum! Now IMAGINE the rumour is true. What about those of us who already have used Fastmail and/or MyOpera for a while and stored important emails in there? What happens to those? I would not like to cancel my account in which I stored important mails, but I also don't want Facebook to come anywhere near my emails. I am sceptic about the dislike of some services and the hype about them, but when Facebook is concerned I'm very fanatically against it. But is there a way to keep the stored emails if FB would buy Fastmail? I would hate to lose those stored emails but also I'd hate to have anything to do with Facebook ... Guess it's a matter of keeping fingers crossed and hear a message from FM/Opera that it's just a rumour. I was considering upgrading my Fastmail to a paid account ; for now that is not going to happen until I clearly hear the Facebook "deal" is untrue.

29 May 2012, 09:38 PM	#171
DaveJ Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 59	Count me as another that will cancel my email account if FB buys Opera. I'm very disappointed and have been a happy FM customer since 2002. The big question is where to move to?

29 May 2012, 09:59 PM	#173
ReuvenNY Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York Posts: 4,259	Please read my posting about the conspiracy theory in this thread: http://www.emaildiscussions.com/show...d=1#post538723

29 May 2012, 10:03 PM	#174
ReuvenNY Moderator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: New York Posts: 4,259	Here is one more article about the Facebook story: http://1dl.us/uE3

29 May 2012, 11:10 PM	#175
sremick Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Vermont, USA Posts: 62	I've seen stuff like this happen before. My best guess is that there's nothing about FastMail that Facebook wants, is interested in, or cares about. It's all about Opera the browser company... the fact that Opera happens to own a little email company on the side which they acquired in recent years is so low on the list that it's probably not even reached their attention yet. Likely, if the rumor came true and FB bought Opera, nothing would change with FM for a while, since the focus would be on "leveraging" the primary "assets" that FB actually cared about: the browser. But somewhere down the lines... maybe even a year or 2... once the dust settled, they would then come across FM and be like, "Hmmm what are we going to do about this FM thing?" At which point, it'd probably just be shut down with about 30-90 days warning. Its value wouldn't even be worth it to FB to waste the time trying to find a buyer, given its ranking in the things FB actually cares about. This comes from being in an almost identical situation personally with a previous employer, as well as seeing similar things with large computer/internet companies. After a few levels of acquisitions, the little accidental tag-along assets that they now own but aren't relevant just get killed off by the new mega-parent as they try to simplify/streamline/whatever-buzzword. I detest FB but I'm more worried about FM being shut down entirely than I am about FB owning my email (which makes me nauseous as well, don't get me wrong). Even if FB put FM up for sale, the most-likely buyer would be one of FM's competitors... you know, one of those companies you considered but didn't like and chose FM instead of... who would then simply want to merge and incorporate all us FM users into their existing system, versus make use of any of FM's actual technology. The paying customer base is the real asset there... that's it. If they had wanted to make any technological changes they would've already, so they won't be looking to become "like Fastmail" all of a sudden and change their fundamental service. And of course, you'd now be subject to the buyer company's new (higher) pricing tiers, with your only option to be canceling your account. So for now, I'm going to just pray the rumors aren't true... or if they are, that FB execs in the know are reading this thread (I'm sure they aren't)... and will be watching this thread closely as people discuss other email options, so I can have a backup plan in-mind already. I've been out of the market for shopping for email for so long, I really have no clue what's out there and what's good. Fastmail was perfect... independent, amazing anti-spam features, reliable, affordable, IMAP... I worry I won't find that again...

29 May 2012, 11:14 PM	#176
kinetic Essential Contributor Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: India Posts: 422	Facebook does not like email. They want users to do all their communication on facebook. Email is a threat to facebooks model.

30 May 2012, 01:40 AM	#180
ioneja Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 713	I'm hoping that if this rumor is actually true, that the original FM team will figure out some way to raise the money to buy FM back from Opera, to go solo again... How about a Kickstarter campaign?