In the world of technology, marriage between two giants does go through a lot of scrutiny and apprehension. When the marriage involves a certain Facebook and Apple Inc. there ought to be a lot of buzz in the market. The creators of the iPhone, iPad and Macintosh have finally got into a union with Facebook – the largest social media platform in the world with more than 900 million users to its credit. Both these technology firms have shared an on and off relationship over the years and their union is slated to offer the users the best of both on a single platform. In one of the biggest events in the world of technology, Apple has announced integration of Facebook on all its platforms. Let us study four major events or secrets from the past which have shaped the relationship between the two companies.
1. The First Date – It was in the year 2006 that the two got together for their first date. Apple was a company that had cult following while Facebook was a social networking website that was coming of age with an estimated 9 million users and facing stiff challenge from MySpace that was the undisputed leader of social networking phenomenon. In Facebook, Steve Jobs saw the future of social networking while for the social network, it was a perfect opportunity to piggyback on technology world’s most revered company. The deal involved with Apple started by giving away 10 million free iTunes samplers to Facebook users. In this give and take association, Apple launched the Apple Student group on Facebook which was an instant hit and saw 450000 people joining the group in no time. The die had been cast in what would be one of the famous ‘on and off’ relationship between the two companies.
2. Heart Break – 2010 was supposed to mark the golden phase of this relationship as the iOS4 was being designed with Facebook integration in mind, but the relation between the two hit the rock. Facebook by then was the largest social networking platform in the world and was trying to get a hard bargain from Apple. On the eve of iPhone4’s launch, there was buzz about Facebook integration and in fact Apple had integrated into Facebook and iTunes which was demonstrated in a video. But Apple’s social media Ping became the bone of contention between the two. Apple tried hard, but could not reach a deal with Facebook and decided to launch the product with Facebook integration without the consent of Mark Zuckerberg upon which the social networking giant sealed its API!
3. Facebook Dumps Apple – When Apple was coming out with its iPad 4 in 2010, Steve Jobs visited Mark Zuckerberg to discuss the development of a Facebook app for the iPad. Mark promised to create the first tablet app for Facebook. However Facebook dumped Apple on the face, when it developed an application for HP’s TouchPad, which was then seen as the biggest rival to iPad. Steve Jobs went furious hearing this upon which Mark Zuckerberg tried to pacify him by asking HP to remove the app from its TouchPad, which the company refused to entertain. Mark took the extreme step of blocking HP’s access to Facebook API, but the damage had already been done as Facebook had backstabbed Apple Inc. not once but twice in the same year.
4. Ex-Lovers Makeup – The HP episode could not keep the lovers away from each other for too long as the two kissed and made-up. Both the companies have got into a strategic alliance where Facebook is working closely with Apple on the iPad application while Apple is taking keen interest in on Facebook’s HTML 5 mobile app platform. Both these companies have a common rival in Google and this marriage of convenience is working perfectly for both of them at the moment. Apple has already announced deep integration of Facebook into all its products.
This union has raised the expectations among the users as the most celebrated company in the world and the fastest growing Internet platform have come together to create something meaningful for the users. This will take browsing Facebook on Apple products to a new level.
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