Facebook has developed a book swap feature for its Marketplace application called Marketplace Book Exchange that enables users to buy and sell books from and to each other. Books are identified by buyers and sellers by their ISBN numbers, and curiously it looks as though there is no way to view all of the books offered in a particular network.
On the one hand, this appears to be a smart move for Facebook, as college students are fed up with buying expensive textbooks from their college bookstores. The Social Graph certainly lends itself to buying and selling items from others within a localized market, such as a college campus.
However, Facebook is not the first to try helping college students find better deals online. There are several websites, such as Campus Books and eCampus, dedicated to this purpose. There are even two applications developed on the Facebook platform – Swap Roll Book Exchange and Campus Book Exchange – meant to help Facebook users find books and other items that others currently own and are willing to sell or trade.
While these Facebook applications have a combined total of less than a thousand users each, they may have experienced a surge of growth as students return to campus this Fall. Now that Facebook has developed its own application for book-swapping purposes, these independently developed applications don’t have a chance. Moral of the story for Facebook application developers: if the idea behind your application is any good, expect to see Facebook develop its own application to supplant yours. Don’t expect them to just sit on the sidelines and watch.
Thanks for the tip Noah.
Hell
why don’t you start a whole new blog for facebook, something like facebookcrunch? Go figure dude, more than 50 percent of your posts are about facebook. I’m tired of hearing about f%cking facebook.
ditto!
I think some of the employees at facebook took a long lunch today. Is there going to be a blog post about that too?
More crunchbase links – love it – now the interns are falling for this scam! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Didn’t you know, today is national Facebook day. Zuckerberg will annouce a new addition to his social utility. He is going to annouce a real time person to person communication system. Its going to be announced at the end of the day. It’ll allow people to communicate to each other using built in voiceboxes. This way we don’t have to type anymore.
So when you see a hot girl on the street, you can say the words ‘hi’ with the built in voicebox, and she can hear you and respond. Can’t wait to see a demo!
There goes my idea. I was going to do a site like that but I don’t think I am up for the challenge of competing with facebook. Guess I’ll just stick with blogging for now.
You guys who keep crying about too many facebook posts are plain retarded. The posts are not about facebook, they are about applications on the facebook platform. How come your not crying about all the online applications that are made for Mozilla Firefox, man I’m so sick of those(sarcasm). Its a freakin platform. That means applications are built on top, that means many new innovative applications, which means shut the hell up.
I keep reading in the comments everyone wailing about “O where are the innovative apps, how come techcrunch doesnt write about new apps I can use.” Does it really take a genius to understand that the online app industry is moving to a different phase? For all you monkeys that dont understand, how about reading read/writeweb’s post on this (http://www.read..._how_we_got.php) and then shutting the hell up.
The innovation phase is basically over, we are moving to a diff phase, a more interconnected applications leveraging each other phase. Facebook is offering that and a new way to be innovative with online applications, the social network, do you see any other network doing that right not? No. Then shut the hell up.
If your minds cant move fast enough to see the industry move and accept it, I think you need to go back to web 1.0 america online and suck your thumbs. Or maybe even Prodigy.
ANd for you real retards complaining about crunchbase links, I seem to remember a time when ppl were saying how techcrunch should have a directory of all the companies it talks about and profiles, and guess what, you got it. To think that they arent going to point their links to that is sheer idiocy, if you had several businesses wouldnt you want to cross advertise? If you are going to say yes, then just shut the hell up, If you are going to say no, sell your business cause you can’t run it, then shut the hell up.
Seriously, just a bunch of children.
Apologies for the interruption Mike, continue on.
Taken from:
https://www.pwc...ee_PR_Final.pdf
“Internet-specific companies captured $897 million going into 160 deals in the second quarter, a marked decrease from the first quarter when $1.4 billion went into 177 deals.”
160 deals, there is more companies out there that you can write about!
I feel bad for these FB’s app developers who compete directly with FB, but who knows?
Asad, by the poster’s admission the existing applications have about 1000 users. Facebook supplanting this is not earth-shaking. That’s where the complaints come from.
The idea is fine, but there’s a huge world outside of Facebook. There’s no reason a student should restrict themselves to a tiny minority of sellers, they should look for the best deal anywhere.
Then again I am biased, working for Direct Textbook.
To #7 Asad: I totally agree with you on “we are moving to a diff phase, a more interconnected applications leveraging each other phase.” I think you got it right.
I also think the readers just want a bit of diversity of companies that TC talk about.
Also, I’m starting kindergarden next week , can’t wait!
this is exactly what salesforce.com does with it’s appexchange – if you make something that people want and use, salesforce copies it. if you’re lucky they buy you out to help copy it, but if not you just get assraped.
but we don’t get a techcrunch article for every lame appexchange app, do we?
and Asad, i’d like to introduce you to….my balls. facebook for the iPhone, made by a guy who now works at facebook, is not an app on top of facebook. neither is facebook’s targeted advertising system. and neither is this. and you are a tool.
********** OK WE GET IT, YOU LOVE FACEBOOK!!!!!!!
That is quite a discouraging blow to FB developers.
Gilltots – The difference between appexchange and FB Apps is that there are millions of people using the FB apps. And millions more to come.
I would think that was obvious.
a frustrated developer of one of these apps talking about his experience. Apparently Facebook even limited his viral expansion opportunities two weeks before they launched their own swap books app:
http://www.face...amp;topic=10919
This is old news, http://www.barebookz.com has been rocking since 99!
I totally agree with all those who are tired of facebook posts. Facebook is the most over-hyped social network. Each application launched for facebook platform does not call for a blog (on as popular and as big as techcrunch). Please post a summary of these features, once in a week or month.
I can’t sign up for Facebook.
Entrepenurers here don’t want to sell their souls to Facebook. They want to built the best web 2.0 apps.
and for everyone else there’s…
http://bookmooch.com/
the founder presented at the PARC last month at BayCHI.
i’m always intrigued by little economies like this.
this we’ll be huge for facebook…and bad for sites like half.com (back bone of the textbook trade for college students)
How to get higher bank interest rates… Never sign up Five applications.
I never sign up — Myspace, Facebook, Meeboo, Digg, and other startups.
Wow. Look at all the haterade coming out regarding FaceBook info. If FaceBook is the new “hot thing” in social sites. And if FaceBook is coming out with cool things that make their site MORE useful for visitors, I’m interested to know. Maybe it’s not going to change my life, but I’m still interested.
FaceBook is popular. You gotta give the people what they want. I bet more people are interested in the FaceBook updates then are tired of them. Keep ‘em coming.
Are you guys getting some facebook IPO money for shilling them so much!?!? It’s ridiculous and appalling what TC has become! Who’s in charge here?! Fire them ASAP!
People need to remember college.
How books work. First day of college, for most at big schools, mommy and daddy take students to the bookstore and buy their books (or now order them online from home…from the bookstore, because parents don’t trust half.com).
End of the semester comes. You take your books to the bookstore and they offer you $60. Which BLOWS, because you spent $140 for the bloody thing. But wait. Your parents bought the book…and they generally forget that you sell them back (ironic ’cause they pulled the same thing). So SWEET $60. That’s a good end of term party.
OR I can wait for the possibility of maybe selling my book at the beginning of NEXT SEMESTER for $100 bucks, $20 bucks less than the bookstore is selling it for. But that’s only if I can find someone to buy it from me. Plus, peer to peer textbooks suck ’cause half the time you get the wrong version and some students are way to highlighter crazy, and have the time they smell like stale beer.
So you go back to the bookstore, especially if your parents buy your textbooks or you’re on scholarship anyways, ’cause you can buy used textbooks there too, and get a fresh one to spill your own beer on. Then…end of semester…you can have $60 now, or wait the entire summer to MAYBE get $100 in September.
For four years, I’ve taken the $60 a semester, and it’s always been the right decision. Everyone I know does too.
Half.com works because you can sell your textbook to them for money immediately. I can name 10 peer to peer textbook ’school only’ sites off the top of my head…none of em get much use, ’cause every college kid I know would rather take $60 today than maybe get $100 next semester.
However, Zuckerberg just blew every other peer to peer site out of the water. But check out your local University bookstore this September, the line will still be out the door.
This is one of the few applications that actually fits the profile of the “original” Facebook user. Glad to see some developers are thinking clearly as opposed to most, as explained here:
http://www.blak...ing-its-glamor/
FB hurting their own apps developers. How very Steve Jobsian!
Comment #23 nailed it.
There’s a serious talent crunch in techcrunch.
Since 1998, Stubex.com has enabled US college students to buy and sell textbooks to each other.
Cool idea. Though as you mentioned – there are already some entries in this market…but still, consumers are in need of the killer app for this application.
I don’t mind the FB posts since the world is revolving around their actions at the moment, and they’re doing the same things other companies like MySpace and Salesforce did, copying other people’s development on their platform into their own apps. Remember when Microsoft used to do this stuff overtly? Never hear about it now.
I think that “platform” companies ought to include in their contract/ToS a clause that they compensate developers who build on their platform when they steal the developer’s idea. Something along the lines of the value derived to date based on their projections of adding the feature they stole. I wouldn’t develop a business on any of these platforms – too risky.
Sri, I think there’s plenty of talent in the writing department. I haven’t heard “you’re a tool” in years.
Here is another great way to save on Textbooks. http://www.edubookswap.com/ With our patented points trading system the full retail value of your textbook is converted to points, you then use your points to acquire the textbooks you need. If your book is worth $100 you can swap it for a book that is worth $100, any unused points are available for more swaps…it’s really that easy.
For more info visit http://www.edubookswap.com