Twitter: “We are not for sale” – So back off, Apple
Twitter is the latest Internet app to go from minor to major, building at a rate not seen since Facebook. Which has, rather inevitably, led to talk of the company being bought out. Facebook failed, Google and Microsoft were rumored to be interested, and now Apple has emerged as the latest possible purchaser. Twitter’s response? “We are not for sale.”
This week began with the news, or more accurately speculation, that Apple was interested in buying Twitter. Not just interested but in “serious negotiations” which are currently at a “late stage”. What’s more, Steve Jobs’s company was thought to be willing to pay $700 million in cold, hard cash for the company.
Both Gawker and TechCrunch claimed a deal was close, with Apple eager to tie it up by June so it could be announced at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Both parties initially declined to comment on the stories but Twitter has now come out fighting.
Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams appeared on The View yesterday (May 6). According to Computer World, host Barbara Walters asked the question on everyone’s lips and inquired as to the truth or otherwise of the recent buyout talk. Stone simply said, “No. We are not for sale.”
Short, sweet, and very much to the point. Would Stone be likely to say this if Apple was even sniffing around? Maybe, but he made clear his and the company’s intention that despite the interest that certain companies may or not have in Twitter, the current owners aren’t planning to sell up anytime soon. Instead, they are working on new features for the site.
Personally, I’m really glad to hear Twitter plans to stay independent, especially if Apple is the company in the running to take over. I’m not a fan of Apple, its products, or methodology and would probably have to give up using Twitter if Apple was to turn Twitter into just another arm of its business empire.
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May 7th, 2009
“not a fan of Apple, its products, or methodology”
Heh.
Ahh, if only the tech blogs had a clue when they wrote stuff like this :)
Yellow blogs for all!
May 7th, 2009
Why would Apple need to “back off” ? … they were never interested in Twitter in the first place.
So please change the headline… It doesn’t make sense when you know Apple could care less about Twitter.
May 7th, 2009
Prediction, in 12 months time the folks at Twitter will be kicking themselves for not selling when they could. With fads, you’ve got to make money when you can.