“Microsoft Corp. and American Express Co. are vying to take an equity stake in Foursquare Labs Inc., according to people with knowledge of the discussion,” Sarah Frier, Douglas MacMillan and Dina Bass report for Bloomberg.
“The two companies are competing to invest in Foursquare rather than cooperating on a joint bid, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Foursquare is talking with other companies about a possible investment, and the talks may not lead to a deal, said another person with knowledge of the matter,” Frier, MacMillan and Bass report. “Foursquare, which lets users check in to show they’re visiting a place like a restaurant or shop, is also negotiating with venture capitalists who own convertible debt about turning their holdings into equity, said one of the people.”
Frier, MacMillan and Bass report, “A stake in Foursquare would give Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker, a bigger role in social media and mobile, areas where it has lagged behind competitors such as Apple Inc.”
MacDailyNews Take: Again, Bloomberg, by what measure is Microsoft “the world’s largest software maker?” Apple makes software, too. Units? Try adding up every Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad – plus hundreds of millions of Windows PCs running iTunes and/or QuickTime. By that measure, Apple is the world’s largest software maker. Market value? Apple is worth nearly $200 billion more than Microsoft. By that measure, too, Apple is the world’s largest software maker. Profit? Puleeze. Apple makes more money than Microsoft, too. By that measure as well, Apple is the world’s largest software maker.
It’s past time to purge your boilerplate description of Microsoft, Bloomberg.
Frier, MacMillan and Bass report, “Foursquare still sees about 6 million users checking into locations each day — a rate that hasn’t changed since April. To help boost the figure, the startup updated its mobile applications on iOS and Android operating systems, plus a new version for Windows 8. The updates included a feature that lets people check their friends into locations in addition to themselves. The company said yesterday it’s also unveiling a technology that will send users automatic recommendations when they visit a new restaurant or neighborhood, without having to open the application.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: You know who really loves Foursquare? Woz.
For us, that’s just too much information to be made public. SOmetimes we worry about Woz. There are a lot of crazies in this world Apple’s Find My Friends is about as far as well go – and only in relatively rare circumstances like concerts, Disneyworld, etc.
I don’t see Foursquare or Yelp lasting that long. For the amount of time that they’ve been around, getting good information from either is a chore.
Not sure I agree with you on YELP. Personally I like YELP and it/them quite reqularly. Its great for small businesses that don’t have the money or the resources to advertise locally.
As for FourSquare? Hell no.
+1 to MDN comments.
Exactly, on both points. Couldn’t have said it any better.
Bloomberg probably ha a text completion tag set up that they just type “M$” and get a paragraph and a half of “The Way We Were” equivalents.
Regarding MDN’s take, Apple still lists hardware first in their SEC filings, so I would think Apple itself considers itself more of a hardware company than a software company.
And by MDN’s own definition, if you count up all the Windows PC’s still in use around the world, I’m pretty sure that Microsoft has more devices using it’s software than Apple does.
That being said, what does it matter who’s the “biggest”? None of us would be visiting these forums if we didn’t like Apple’s products. I really don’t care what labels some media organization slaps on a company. I don’t buy or use products based on some arbitrary label- I buy or use them based on what best suits me needs.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Apple is even a “hardware” company, per se. First and foremost, Apple is a platform company that makes hardware, software and/or services to drive those platforms.
Apple’s platforms:
iOS – mobile devices
OS X – desktop computers
iTunes – content distribution
iCloud – Internet services
Webkit – HTML5
AppleTV – entertainment
The definition of worlds largest software maker, should apply to the single definition of software.
Let’s take all the software published, titles, games, versions, et all. How much has been produced, public and private, as long as it’s unique, and the copyright is attributed to the said publisher. Don’t consider content or reselling of content or software belonging to third parties. Take what pile of bits exist, tallied associatively with the census of titles and versions, and place it on a single infinite capacity HDD.
Now do this with Microsoft, and do this with Apple. IF you want to consider titles sold, or even given away. So if you want to count firmware on iPods or Zunes, I would say this is fair game. Operating systems on all devices are fair game.
I would say Microsoft is the winner, of either measure.
Since the term of concern is “Software Maker” and not Software company, market value doesn’t come into consideration. Just because a company can spew out garbage, stollen technology, poor copies of other makers brilliant code, doesn’t mean that the manure of software they produce, doesn’t count against the title of worlds largest something.
I think your energy is misplaced and you could have come up with a better rebuttal. Example: “Crapware doesn’t make Microsoft the worlds largest software maker, it makes them the worlds largest crapware maker. Now consider total profits from useful software sold…” Then finish with an Apple beats Microsoft statement.
Anyway, I am trying to help.
5 stars for MDN’s first “Take”. Nailed it.