[sangnoir]

> There is no condescension in making a value judgement of yet another messaging application vs a fundamental energy source technology.

This is the root of our disconnect - I strongly disagree with your assertion that WhatsApp was merely "yet another messaging application". If it were, why aren't Slack and the rest of them being snapped up for $19 billion?

You have an extensive background in messaging tech - I have a more extensive background than most in the 3rd world. I witnessed the phenomenon that was WhatsApp firsthand. What other messenger supported feature phones (think Nokia S40 and S60)? This probably doesn't matter in your world, and probably gives you a blindspot that causes you to not see the value that is readily apparent to me.

[jhayward]

I appreciate this response, thanks.

Our disconnect may boil down to this: in my view, WhatsApp's features are, in hindsight, obvious, simple, and easy to implement by any competitor. The advantage (and value) in WA is in the already grown network, the familiar marketplace network effect growing out of that.

Facebook acquired WA for the network of users, not the messaging features. It could easily and more cheaply have fielded an identical app with the same or superior features. It didn't, though, because it wanted to not leave a competitor in the marketplace.

Thus the judgement that it was $19B of mis-allocated capital from a larger viewpoint. We apparently disagree on this point.

On the other hand, working fusion power technology would be hugely consequential for most of the human race, especially in places like Africa that are so energy-needy at this point in their development.

[sangnoir]

I completely agree with your first 2 paragraphs. I am furious with Fb dropping support for basic phones - and this is making WA "yet another messaging app" in pursuit of crowding out Snapchat.

> Thus the judgement that it was $19B of mis-allocated capital from a larger viewpoint. We apparently disagree on this point.

I almost agree, only I believe there's more nuance to this. Fb was never going to invest $19B in fusion power, so to say it was mis-allocated feels wrong. The only reason it spent so much was that WhatsApp was a potential existential threat to Fb. This was the point I was attempting to put across, abeit poorly - that a scrappy company that manages to achieve fusion would be an existential threat to energy companies and would be worth billions for that reason alone.