Let's examine why Facebook is leading the pack in the following areas of the web today:
Facebook has always been a pioneer for its own technologies and business strategies, including forming the Open Computer Project, and setting up data centers in the arctic circle.
Facebook uses ODMs (original design manufacturers) in Taiwan and China, rather than OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) like HP or Dell. This way, they are able to save themselves money by stripping out what they don't need. This saves the company approximately 24% during initial purchase phases, and 38% during overall operational maintenance costs.
Engineers at Facebook have also worked hard on finding ways to save the company money in maintenance and power costs, and they're not just hogging the ideas all to themselves, they're sharing the schematics with everyone. In this way, Facebook isn't only keeping the world connected (for free) but also enhancing and upgrading the experience for everyone at the same time. They're basically telling the world, this is how we're connecting everyone, and this is the set of tools and exact plans we're using to do it, go have fun. What other giant company can say that? Microsoft and Apple tend to bottleneck and pigeon-hole their customers into using specific products and following their own timeline and plan. They do have their own sets of development tools and share some of their technology with us, but it just isn't the same.
Without going too far into the internet privacy debate, I would ask you what better option you have for a social network right now? A lot of people out there complain and cry about being spied on, or marketed to, but what else is there? When the marketing goes away, so will these types of tools, unless we step up and build them ourselves, with our own money, for free, and never ask for a dime. Facebook is the best social network available right now, and should be supported as far as possible until the next best rival appears, if ever.
One problem I do have, is with the inflated unique-user count. I would venture to say that at least 1/3 of all Facebook accounts are either alternate accounts, or created for fictional characters. For instance, one genuine user might have 2 additional accounts for their pets (like I do). I'm not saying it's wrong or bad, it just makes it harder to analyze the user base.
Sources:
Oregon data center
Hardware
Shifting into ARM servers
- Hardware & Open Source Technologies
- Online Marketing & Social Networking
- Job Creation & Job Security
Hardware / Open Source Technology
Facebook uses ODMs (original design manufacturers) in Taiwan and China, rather than OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) like HP or Dell. This way, they are able to save themselves money by stripping out what they don't need. This saves the company approximately 24% during initial purchase phases, and 38% during overall operational maintenance costs.
Engineers at Facebook have also worked hard on finding ways to save the company money in maintenance and power costs, and they're not just hogging the ideas all to themselves, they're sharing the schematics with everyone. In this way, Facebook isn't only keeping the world connected (for free) but also enhancing and upgrading the experience for everyone at the same time. They're basically telling the world, this is how we're connecting everyone, and this is the set of tools and exact plans we're using to do it, go have fun. What other giant company can say that? Microsoft and Apple tend to bottleneck and pigeon-hole their customers into using specific products and following their own timeline and plan. They do have their own sets of development tools and share some of their technology with us, but it just isn't the same.
Networking / Marketing
Without going too far into the internet privacy debate, I would ask you what better option you have for a social network right now? A lot of people out there complain and cry about being spied on, or marketed to, but what else is there? When the marketing goes away, so will these types of tools, unless we step up and build them ourselves, with our own money, for free, and never ask for a dime. Facebook is the best social network available right now, and should be supported as far as possible until the next best rival appears, if ever.
One problem I do have, is with the inflated unique-user count. I would venture to say that at least 1/3 of all Facebook accounts are either alternate accounts, or created for fictional characters. For instance, one genuine user might have 2 additional accounts for their pets (like I do). I'm not saying it's wrong or bad, it just makes it harder to analyze the user base.
Job Creation & Job Security
Some voluntarily-submitted salary info from glassdoor show us why people love working there. It's a fun working environment coupled with a very healthy pay structure. Since Facebook is using cutting-edge technology and even creating its own in some cases, the company tends to attract younger graduates and more advanced engineers and technicians. This creates a desirable workplace for more serious professionals looking to push their careers to the next level. The company also has a very tight stranglehold on the above talking points, which ensures that the employees will be needed and utilized for more years to come.
Sources:
Oregon data center
Hardware
Shifting into ARM servers
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