Should Apple have bought Instagram first?

[Rene Ritchie]

Facebook bought Instragram for $1 billion, partially because Instagram was a threat to Facebook's online photo empire, and part because they were a mobile, not web-based company that Facebook really couldn't understand, much less match.

Should Apple have bought Instagram first, for those very reasons?

Apple's attempts at social networking, especially Ping, have been less than stellar. Their interest in photography, however, as been on the uptake. The iPhone 4S has a great camera, and the late Steve Jobs commented that photography needed a revolution.

Photo Stream is an okay way to share and backup photos, but it's not sexy the way Instagram is, and nobody loves it the way Instagram users love Instagram.

If Apple could launch a social network for music, why couldn't they buy a social network for photons?

Apple will no doubt keep Instagram on the iOS platform no matter what, and with a robust API maybe Twitter-style integration could be in the feature future.

If Facebook ever launches their own platform and removes it from the App Store, Apple could copy it -- or make their own unique take on it -- fairly quickly. They could easily add filters the way they added fun effects to the previous generation iPod nano camera.

So Apple is better served to let someone else foot the bill for Instagram, no matter how cool it could have been as part of iOS.

But it would have been an interesting alternate "What If?"

"Apple buys Instagram, renames it Pong..."

 

[greasemuntney]

Well I can say I DID like Instagram. But now I had to go and delete it just like anything else FB always takes something good and destroys it. Oh well it was nice while it lasted.

 

[Leanna Lofte]

Honestly, I can see Apple ruining it more than Facebook. Ping was one of the biggest fails ever. I don't want them touching Instagram. But I'm not happy about Facebook buying it either.

 

[HipHopSince1980]

If Apple wanted to they could do something similar to Instagram, if and only if they assembled a team of devs who have experience and understand how to build a social/photo sharing app that could possibly even exceed Instagram. However, Apple is in the business of making money so it seems doubtful.

I do think FB overpaid. Somewhat reminds me of when Fox bought Myspace for 500 mill, only to see it sold for a tenth of that a few years later

 

[BradM73]

Should Apple have bought Instagram first...?

No. I don't believe Apple should have bought Instagram. I would prefer Apple stay tightly focus on their core market. Look at what happened the last time Apple got too fragmented.

Secondly, Instragram isn't really all that great. It simply adds filters to existing photos, and allows you to post them to the Instagram social network, or so I'm told. I haven't used Instagram in a very long time for the sole reason that it's not something I find myself using, ever.

And finally, while I do see the value of the app, as it's obviously popular, I'm skeptical as to whether it's really worth $1 Billion dollars. (Maybe Hong Kong Dollars???)

 

[12youngjedi]

i like instagram and i got sad when i heard that facebook brought it cause i know a lot of fakers will be happy. if apple was the first one to buy it, maybe i can be happy with that decision.

 

[Jared DiPane]

I agree with Leanna's points.

Had Apple purchased it they would have ruined the community aspect of it, and wanted the filters for their own camera app.

Eh, Facebook bought it, but likely just to acquire the huge community. The accounts can be kept separate, so for me it is just like they never got bought.

 

[Garz]

Don't know if Apple buying it would have been any better. Just keep the app similiar to what it is and I do not care who owns it. Still one of my favorite iOS apps even with FB buying it. I just hope they do not ruin it.

 

[redbeard]

No, Facebook overpaid by about 999 million dollars, there's far better apps than Instagram if Apple wanted their own photo sharing app.

 

[coskier]

They bought it for the community, not the app itself. Apple wouldn't have known what to do with it. If FB does keep it's hands off as they have indicated, it could be a good thing. They still have features to build out, and now they can focus on that.