Under the spotlight of acquisition rumor talks, Facebook has started its own agenda of purchasing Internet start-ups with the buying of Parakey, a web to desktop application company which is run by Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt, two of the founders of the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Under the deal, Ross & Hewitt will also be helping to redevelop the Facebook site, which given Parakey’s mission of bridging “the gap between information on the web and the desktop”, should have more desktop application capability; expanding Facebook beyond the browser and onto the computer.
More on Parakey :
Parakey is a platform for building applications that merge the best of the desktop and the Web. Like desktop applications, these applications work offline, offer more privacy than pure websites, run quickly, and integrate with your computer and its devices. But like Web applications, they are also more creative, visually alluring, accessible from anywhere and potentially accessible by anyone. In short, Parakey apps are designed to be both useful and social, a combination that is too rare today.
Parakey is building not just the platform but also its first set of applications. We enjoy programming, but ultimately we started this company to make computers better for average people who turn to technology for convenience, not…adventure. When people need to call their “computer friend” in 2007 to install a program, scan a document, burn a CD or show a picture to a friend, there is a problem. Fixing it will take time and the patience to sit down with users and understand them.
Seriously, I do not think Facebook will allow itself to be acquired anytime soon. Instead, the company will probably build strong partnerships (LinkedIn, Google or perhaps MSN adCenter) and create its own niche in the Internet which will be based upon social networking, yet a step beyond.
