Tumblr and Yahoo

If you're a Tumblr member (like me), then you've likely heard Yahoo is buying Tumblr for a reported $1.1 Billion. Yeah, that's a lot of money, but then Yahoo is cash rich and looking for companies to buy. This has been and is the strategy of Microsoft, Apple and Google.

You don't have to develop in-house talent, you just buy small applications companies and either intergrate the product and/or the staff of the acquired company into yours, and reap the products, users, users' information and potential ad revenue.

If you notice almost all of Microsoft's newer applications in the last decade or so didn't come from the company but from buying other companies. And Google has followed suit but less so from their overall products and services.

As for Tumblr and Yahoo, the first reaction was that Yahoo may and likely will integrate Tumblr into Yahoo, forcing Tumblr users to join Yahoo and then use their information and their posts and photos for profit.

But someone has another suggestion which also makes sense. Yahoo isn't buying Tumblr for Tumblr, that can be left alone, it's buying the creativity and innovation in the staff to revive and improve Yahoo which has grown stale and old.

I'm a member of Yahoo for their forums they bought from the original company and integrated into Yahoo but over time I've lost almost all interest there and only go there for a few small special forums. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be a member of Yahoo.

As for Tumblr, I'll continue on it until I see a reason to erase my posts, photos, etc. and leave. And that depends on if Tumblr continues to be popular for what I want and Yahoo doesn't screw it up as it has with everything else it touches.

As Yahoo has proven, you can be filthy rich and entirely useless and stupid. Yahoo has proven you can only buy your way to popularity so far but the younger generation is smarter than them. They're not rich but they're a whole lot smarter and wiser.