http://webkit.org/blog/60/noki.....t-sources/

In less than 30 seconds, a Facebook engineer can allow the iPhone interface to work on the Nokia (by recognizing the Nokia browser user agent.)

If Facebook receives anywhere near the amount of investment from Nokia that they received from Microsoft, that could be the most valuable 30 seconds in history!

Although a Facebook/Nokia deal looks good for both parties, Nokia needs to remember its core market strengths. Ominously, however, the phone giant is so bamboozled by the greedy webtards that it looks set to be taken to the cleaners again. According to Moconews:

“The deal involves giving Facebook a major slot within Nokia retail products’ displays.”

Picture yourself at the negotiating table. In such deals, it’s traditional for the service provider to pay the gatekeeper for access to the users - not the other way around. Remember that Facebook has no mobile experience, and can offer no evidence that Facebook is anything other than a sitdown, PC-based leisure activity. Nokia has close to a billion users, while Facebook has just 50m regulars. In other words, Facebook should be paying Nokia for prominent placement on its handsets - and not the other way around.

If Nokia thinks it needs to throw shareholders’ money down the drain for an inflated equity stake in Facebook, rather than seeing it as a revenue stream, then the Nokia executives really are where Mark “I’m CEO… bitch” Zuckerberg wants them.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2.....dumb_deal/

http://simongeorgeinc.googlepages.com

Jon
http://woodmarvels.com - Create Unique Memories

You nailed it on the head! Its shocking that this isn’t apparent to most people.

A stake in FB to certain companies is a priceless gamble. They are not trying to own a stake so that if/when FB becomes a revenue source they too can share in the benefits and see an incredible ROI. What they are doing is trying to solidify a relationship (as exclusive as possible) so that as FB carves out their experimental business model these companies will be able to couple themselves to it somehow. Its more of a bribe than an investment.

Companies like Microsoft and Nokia are essentially saying “We will pay you a few hundred million to establish the beginnings of what will be a mutually beneficial and exclusive relationship. A small portion of your company will be an added benefit and you can use that to broadcast a large valuation to the world to further legitimize your business despite an unproven and incomplete model”.

Facebook would like to continue to OWN and exploit their users private data without sharing in these profits and simply providing a useful service. Unfortunately, consumers are quickly learning that this may be something to be concerned about. There is a fast growing demand for openness that will hurt their walled garden philosophy. At somepoint an open and selfless alternative will arise and Facebook will shrink in order to remain a viable player for the long run. The catch 22 will lead to the inevitable deflation of facebook.

In some continents Widsets is already preinstalled almost every Nokia phone since December 2007.

Fb’s ability to make serious money, especially in light of how it bungled some of their ad network aspects, is a mystery to me. At least their venture capital firms are looking good on paper…

Even if our economic ground was not shaky I would still not invest in Facebook, the fundamentals are not there. Every social network goes through this cycle, look at MySpace in the US. It was the new it thing, cash got injected, greed took over and now users practically flee from it. I hope Facebook has a plan because pretty soon the high will wear off.