
Apple Said to Acquire Color - zachh
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/10/18/color-gets-acquired-by-apple-rumor/?utm_medium=Spreadus&awesm=tnw.to_a68g&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=social%20media
======
aresant
Apple just jumped the shark if this is true.

Bill Nguyen is massively talented at making things work for Bill Nguyen - his
prior business bought by Apple for ~$80m, Lala.com, was lackluster at best.

Under Jobs you could kind of, sort of get your head around $80m for
essentially a talent acquisition in streaming / digital music which is/was an
important revenue stream for AAPL.

But even under Jobs the supposed golden boy, Nguyen, bailed. Taking his vision
and some of his best people with him.

So I see this as "Apple makes the same mistake twice" - and if Apple is going
to jump into the "social around you, bullshit, blah blah blah" game through
this acquisition I am truly sad.

~~~
zizee
bonch your account has been hellbanned. Looking at your comment history it has
been for a while.

Update: Just to be clear, I don't mind hellbanning spammers or obvious trolls,
but looking at bonch's comment history he/she doesn't seem to be either.

~~~
Terretta
Isn't the point of this type of ban to avoid alerting the presumed troll in
question?

I read with showdead, and have noticed we seem to often tell auto dead users
about it, which seems to defeat the point. Perhaps I've misunderstood the
whole idea.

~~~
phpnode
A lot of HN users find the whole concept of hell banning objectionable.
Because for a large number of those affected, they're not spammers or trolls,
they've just made one comment that has irked an admin. It is our duty as
decent human beings to inform them.

~~~
shiven
Precisely my biggest problem with HN. There needs to be a way to repeal
HellBanning, some sort of an appeal mechanism or a time-based auto-repeal that
kicks in after say 4 weeks of good behavior such as 25 upvoted (albeit dead)
comments from the HBanned user.

~~~
millennia
Or the admins could just reserve hellbanning for only the most persistent
serious trolls. It is a useful tool but should only be used in extreme
circumstances, not just for one bad comment. If it was used only once a month
or every few months for persistent trolls it wouldn't be a problem.

Bad comments get voted down anyway, so there's already a mechanism for that,
IMHO hellbanning should really only be used on people trying to post spam
repeatedly or repetitively troll comment threads.

------
mukaiji
My HN timeline for today:

(morning) "Color to be shutting down" (afternoon) "Color IS NOT shutting down"
(evening) "Color is acquired by Apple"

wtf just happened.

~~~
ChuckMcM
To answer the question: "wtf just happened."

If you have ever seen the TV show "House" [1] its the part where each doctor
makes a different diagnosis and Dr. House keeps trying to fit all the pieces
together to get to the real issue.

Clearly Color is in a state of transition, I know of no company with an absent
CEO, and no COO, that are stable. The tech "press" is in a feeding frenzy
trying to be the first to 'diagnose' the cause and the eventual effect.
Apparently its a solid bullet point in one's blogume' to say "I broke the
<company> story."

[1] The TV series House as written up by Wikipedia :
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_(TV_series)>

~~~
tomclancy
So...color has lupus?

~~~
sjwright
It's never lupus.

~~~
sageikosa
unless you're a magician played by Steve Valentine

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Don%27t_Want_to_Know>

------
jballanc
Nope, this doesn't smell right...

In fact, this smells like an intentional leak by someone on Color's side in an
effort to boost their price to some other potential buyer (counting on Apple's
legendary no-comment streak to bolster the appearance of the rumor).

Think about the last time something leaked about an Apple acquisition before
the deal was closed...right, never! In fact, Apple has notoriously remained
quiet about acquisitions even _after_ they close. They are not a company that
does a triumphal sounding press release for every acquisition.

Yeah, occasionally you get leaks about Apple products. You think those aren't
intentional? You think Apple's not leaking _just enough_ about their upcoming
products to keep people's interest. That's _their game_.

But leaking information about an acquisition? What does that gain Apple? If
Apple really did want to purchase Color, leaking that information would only
raise their price. No, the only entity here that benefits from a leak like
this is Color.

If the rumor turns out to be true, the fact that details of an acquisition
were leaked is much more concerning to me than the particulars of what company
and for how much.

~~~
salimmadjd
I'd second your assertions. I've met one of Color's employees(in products
team) early on and walked away thinking this company is going nowhere. Not
sure what apple is gaining by buying this company. Frankly, they'd been better
off buying NIK Software. If they are truly buying Color they're out of their
minds.

------
petercooper
As a fellow member of our startup world, congratulations to Color! They
deserved success after spotting the opportunity the new mobile era presents
for transforming the way people share the stories of their lives. Their
constant innovating and striving to learn and grow was sure to bring them
plentiful benefits.

~~~
JabavuAdams
Wow, that sounded authentic. I think I just barfed a little in my mouth.

~~~
petercooper
If it makes it any better, most of the phrasing was from their About page.

~~~
beedogs
Wow, their actual About page reads like a bunch of potheads started writing an
"About" page and got distracted.

<http://www.color.com/about>

------
eliajf
Sad if true, for all the hardworking companies out there that are working very
hard to make a difference in customer's lives. Only overpriced products with
no product/market fit can be acquired for "high double digit" millions.

~~~
ctrl_freak
I don't think Apple buys up companies due to "hype", and considering the
amount of negative press Color has been receiving as of late, that seems
especially unlikely here. More likely it is a talent acquisition, or as
greendestiny suggests, patents.

~~~
eliajf
I can buy patents but I doubt Apple does an acqui-hire for high double digit
millions.

------
ericdykstra
"High double digits" seems like a lot to pay for color.com and @color
(although it is a great domain and handle).

Maybe they have some really cool patents that they can use to sue Samsung or
Google for $500 million and make the acquisition a net profit.

~~~
batgaijin
Nguyen is the Mr. Magoo of startups.

~~~
te_chris
Or the Underpants Gnomes? If only he'd share what the "???" are.

------
ctide
If you didn't think the patent system was fucked up before, you sure as fuck
should know now.

~~~
signa11
if you don't mind may you please elaborate on the above post in the context of
this headline ? thank you !

~~~
raganwald
Here's the _real_ color.com VC pitch, not the fake one they distributed.

=====

"Look, we want a bunch of money from you VCs. A LOT of it. Here's what we've
got: Some great patents, and the prospect of some more as we continue R&D.
More importantly, these patents are in a strategically critical space where
Google, Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft are all vying for supremacy.

"So here's what we're going to do with your money: Either (a) Shake a bunch of
people down for big bucks, in which case we'll need your money for legal fees.
Only we may not need it, but knowing we can afford to pay lawyers will make
the big guys settle. Or (b) Sell the patents.

"Yeah, we anticipated the "We don't fund patent trolls" objection. Here are
the bullshit products we plan to roll out. Sure they suck, but they buy us
credibility in the valley as an operating entity. Nobody will accuse you of
funding a troll.

"And hey, one of these dogs with fleas may actually catch on, you never know.
If not, we shoot it and make another, we just call it "pivoting" while we
carry on negotiations for patent royalties.

"Whaddya say, how does M$40 sound, plus an extra mil so we can say "The low
forties" on the press release?"

~~~
bbhacker
Source? If true, brilliance on Bill Ngyuens end and shame on the tech press
for not getting it.

~~~
hack_edu
Thing is, they tech press do get it. Probably more than us. But we keep
clicking through to their articles; that's how they make money.

------
lawrence
I would downvote this story if I could. Color operates in a parallel bizarro
world that most of us will, thank god, never know. $40M in funding and no
users? Check. Three months off to Hawaii as founding CEO? Check. CEO who says
he would pivot if he was back in the office? Check. Move along, there's
nothing to see here.

~~~
k-mcgrady
So you would downvote a story because of jealousy? Whatever your opinion on
Color it's still an important story and something other Hackers obviously care
about. The fact someone can get funded so much money, completely fail, and
then get bailed out says a lot about our industry.

------
pixelmonkey
It was obvious from day one that Color was going to be acquired for a pretty
penny. It's even in their pitch deck:

<http://www.slideshare.net/kitseeborg/color-faux-pitch-ddeck>

See slide 45: "We're going to flip this bitch like flipper!"

~~~
mikescar
In the 'faux pitch deck'? It's called a joke.

Or did you really think after Slide 2: "Colors: people love that shit" this
was a real pitch deck?

~~~
pixelmonkey
Wow, apparently my attempt at sarcasm on the Internet failed with some people.
Yes, I know the slide deck is a joke. _sigh_

------
cjensen
There's no reason for Apple to buy Color. A couple of patents on recently
invented stuff? Unlikely. Buying the patents would make sense, not buying the
company. Acquire a team? Why not just hire them? Is the team really that
attached to a company going nowhere?

So I call this rumor nonsense. On the other hand, if this rumor is true it
says a lot about Apple management and none of it good.

~~~
r00fus
And Google buying MOTO for $12B is good management? Motorola hasn't really
produced anything of value since acquisition for Google aside from the patent
pool.

$XXM is a drop in the bucket for Apple - they could fund 10x that without
blinking if the patents were deemed to be worth it. They have 10000x that in
the bank already.

~~~
cjensen
Google bought MOTO for the patents. Major portfolios like Motorola's have been
going for a lot of money lately. So while I think it was a poor investment, it
really depends on whether or not that huge portfolio is useful to Google.

Color has nothing comparable.

------
rdl
I'm surprised Palantir didn't buy them just to take over their prime downtown
Palo Alto real estate leases (one of the few big spaces not taken already by
Palantir...)

~~~
newhouseb
Well, their current office space is technically illegal as at least the ground
floor is zoned for retail. Remember how they had that silly little handwritten
note on the (always locked) door that said "hi! We're color, come on in and
say hi!"? That, apparently was enough (undoubtedly with their sway with the
local govt) to fulfill the requirement that all places zoned for retail be
accessible to the public.

~~~
rdl
I can't believe I hadn't thought of that -- I always thought the big "public
cafeteria, come join us for lunch" thing on the ground floor was just space-
banking and showing off, and using it as a recruiting tool. Zoning makes a lot
more sense (I remember PA whining at Facebook for using that building over on
Hamilton for the customer service offices, the one with the nice frosted glass
Facebook text on the retail windowfront...)

------
pclark
I would have liked to see Hacker News applauding Bill Nugyen for landing in
such a way if these rumours are true. Colour has a team, with no products nor
leadership and they're going to sell for tens of millions of dollars. To the
most successful company on the planet.

~~~
beedogs
well, it's frankly kind of embarrassing.

------
timerickson
I've been a quiet fan of Color since the beginning, from a technology/team
standpoint, not a product standpoint. I think its smart for Apple.

We can all agree that the product launch and the product itself was terribly
implemented, but that doesn't mean the technology behind it can't be
impressive. It also doesn't have to mean that Apple can't make good use of the
technology and talent at Color by embedding them into existing teams and apps.

~~~
danso
What technology exactly? Their initial tech claims (which were never verified
or detectable in real world usage) were impressive. Their pivot made little
mention of using that tech. What tech of Color's can we conclusively say
actually works in the real world?

~~~
snogglethorpe
Not to mention:

"Do I need a Facebook Account to use Color?

Yes, your Color account is directly linked to your Facebook account.
Everything you do on Color, including photo taking and LIVE video
Broadcasting, will be represented on Facebook "

Ugh...

------
unreal37
I for one am shocked that The Next Web seems to have done some original
reporting here, and not just copying someone else's blog post word for
word.[1]

Unless of course the original source blog post for this can be found
somewhere...

[1][http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/05/14/next-web-
dirtbag...](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/05/14/next-web-dirtbaggery)

------
jimboyoungblood
Not to be confused with "Apple acquires Silicon Color"

<http://appleinsider.com/article/?id=2147>

~~~
powera
October 16, 2006 (article date) is also not to be confused with October 16,
2012.

------
Apocryphon
When has there ever been a wild (non-obvious) Apple acquisition rumor that was
substantiated?

~~~
bradsmithinc
Siri and Chomp both come to mind. So does LaLa.

~~~
Apocryphon
I'm not sure if these were so wild, since they don't seem to be companies as
high-profile or controversial as Color. Siri is somewhat wild insofar most
people didn't expect that Apple was working on such a project. I'm talking
more about the Apple will buy Twitter/EA/RIM stories.

[http://technologizer.com/2011/07/29/a-brief-history-of-
apple...](http://technologizer.com/2011/07/29/a-brief-history-of-apple-not-
buying-things/)

~~~
k-mcgrady
I would say they are more high profile than Color. The only reason we think of
Color as high profile is because it was a failure. Anyone outside of our
bubble will never have heard of it. Siri and Chomp were both successful and
had a lot of users. People actually cared when they were shut down. I doubt
many people will care if Color gets shut down.

------
jonnathanson
It's entirely possible that Apple saw, in Color, the ability to acquire some
valuable patents, talent, or capabilities at fire sale prices that it would
spend a lot more trying to develop in house.

Remember that distressed assets in one company's hands are highly productive
assets in a different company's hands. If the company actually has been run
into the ground, all the better for Apple, because it can get a steeper
discount on the assets it's after.

------
Tycho
It will be interesting to analyse this once we know more.

Previous Apple acquisitions went quiet for a while but then became part of
Apples plans in a big way:

Siri, Inc. --> Siri

PA Semi --> A6 chips in Apple devices

Lala --> iTunes Match

I suppose the difference is that they all had viable products prior to
acquisition. But what I'm thinking is that Color have been working on stuff
which is quite clearly close to Apples photo offerings (cameras in all their
devices, photo stream, iCloud, gps, Facebook integration). How much would it
cost Apple to develop all that stuff? A few million I guess. But what would
the _oppurtunity cost_ be of Apple putting one of their development teams to
work on these features? A lot more (judging by how much Apple's profits keep
growing).

Apple don't have enough staff to capitalise on all the oppurtunities that they
have (hence their massive pile of unspent cash). They can only do so much at
once. But what if they find a project basically tailor made to their standards
(strategically aligned, patented to the gills, high quality code-base, iOS
compatibility)? Might make sense to spend their pocket money and just acquire
it for a somewhat inflated price.

------
jdevonport
If Apple has done this it would make me really consider their management's
judgement.

Color has never been a successful business or even an innovator in its space.

From what I can tell they never even considered how to monetize the company,
on that basis it should be allowed to go bust.

I can't see what value there is there apart from the team, and that isn't
worth a blockbuster sum.

------
AznHisoka
The startup Gods are just messing with our heads.

"Color raises 40 Million" -"OMG.. we're in a bubble" -"Ridiculous... waste of
money"

"Color is about to shut down" \- "See I told you so" \- "Ha.. saw that coming"

"Color acquired by Apple" \- "WTH is going on?" \- "I work 100 times as hard
making a product people want! Where's my payday?!!"

------
nicholassmith
Well if it's true it would go some way towards explaining why Color took a
fair few hours after the story broke to say "No, we're not shutting down", if
the deal is there it's quite likely they'd need to speak to all sides (board,
investors, potential Apple negotiations etc).

If Apple pay $40mil for it then they're as stupid as a sack of rocks. If
they've ponied up $10-20mil as a talent grab I can kind of see it. Either way
we're talking about pocket change to a company with as much cash reserve as
Apple, but if I was an investor I'd be interested in hearing why Apple thought
it was a good idea.

------
cft
For a modern software developer, news like this mean: focus on Android.

~~~
rimantas
You must have some strange definition of "modern".

------
etfb
My gods I hate "said to". Headline-writer "English" deserves to be consigned
to the same cess pit as Church Latin and segmented memory addressing.

------
bowmessage
Interesting... these guys had a heavy presence at my campus last year (Texas
A&M University) but have since been nowhere to be found. I know of no one that
uses the app anymore at all, not many people did in the first place.

It should be interesting to see what Apple does with this acquisition.

------
pbreit
Are the sources sure that the rumors don't refer to Silicon Color which was
reported yesterday?

~~~
jey
That was on October 16 of 2006, not 2012.

~~~
pbreit
Oh, crap, my bad!

------
jowiar
IF this is actually true, I can sort of see the fit. Apple is very good at
turning pieces into products. Color, clearly, isn't, but may be very good at
producing pieces that have value in the proper hands.

I'm throwing this out there to stimulate discussion a bit, and there's a
pretty good chance I get downvoted for saying it, but there's an argument to
be made that this actually is a success for the patent system. Companies
founded on "get a bunch of smart people together and innovate" should be
something that we encourage as a society. They create value, and there should
be a structure to encourage this to actually happen. I'm not sure that
academia should have a monopoly on this sort, and patents are the other
current method of doing this.

------
robryan
If true this might actually make it even easier for Nguyen to raise in future.
If they have done little right and managed to deliver a return on a $40mil
investment.

------
shmerl
Looking at the title, I thought for a moment that Apple tried to patent some
color %) They did already patent rectangular shapes after all ;)

------
radicaldreamer
Probably a good way to build the next generation of Photo Streams in iOS.

------
andyjsong
I'm gonna get downloaded, but seriously, fuck this.

------
bane
So is this Color, soon to be seen in the iPhone 5s?

~~~
lostlogin
Color was introduced to the iPod touch a few weeks back, so maybe.

------
clobber
Post from Gruber today about Color:
<http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/10/17/color-shut-down>

> Like I Said, $41 Million Down the Toilet

~~~
plinkplonk
I eagerly await Gruber's 'pivot' on his opinion about Color, if Apple - the
company that can do no wrong and is really playing 11 dimensional chess (as
per his blog) - really acquired it.

~~~
megablast
Gruber is plenty critical of Apple, look at his analysis of Apple maps. He
justifies why they had to do it, but still agrees it is not ready.

~~~
cookiecaper
Heh, he is not critical of Apple at all in that piece. He grudingly accepts
that the new Maps wasn't ready, but spends the rest of it begging us to
forgive them because big mean Google wouldn't give Apple what they wanted for
cheap. :(

------
madaxe
Oh good. Another failed startup with massive over investment, a sucky product
and no revenue gets bought for megabucks. Nepotism and back-room deals abound.

------
traughber
lol!

