QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Apr 13, 2012 -> 06:32 PM)
That's the whole reason. Facebook's interface for uploading photos on mobile devices was clunky and not as easy to use as Instagram. So instead of trying to create an ALTERNATIVE to Instagram, they just straight up bought them so they wouldn't have to put in the time and money to develop one, and then try and win the market over. They just simply BOUGHT the market.
So I totally understand why they would buy it, but the pricetag of $1B boggles my mind. I would be surprised if the little startup company who made an app wouldn't have just sold it to FB for like.....$10M? Maybe not even that. I mean, the company is 9 people. NINE!! They made an app that is not even anything new or different. I can't believe the price tag was so high.
1B is a lot of money to put into something, but you're right.