Cisco buys Tribe.com
p2pnet.net news:- Cisco has caught the social networking bug, the latest dot com disease to sweep the Net. Everyone and his brother figures all they have to do is buy, or create, one and CyberSpace will become their oyster.
Netscape builder Marc Andreessen believes he’s, “approaching the second coming of the Internet with Ning, a free online service that allows people to create their own social networks”.
Next week Cisco plans to announce it’s buying the technology assets of Tribe.net, “a mostly forgotten social networking site, according to people close to the companies’ discussions,” says The New York Times.
It’s a “curious pairing,” says the NYT, going on:
“Cisco, with 55,000 employees, makes networking equipment for telecommunications providers and other big companies. Tribe.net, run by a company with eight employees, has been trampled by newer social sites like MySpace and Facebook.
“But along with the recent purchase of a social network design firm, Five Across, the deal will give Cisco the technology to help large corporate clients create services resembling MySpace or YouTube to bring their customers together online. And that ambition highlights a significant shift in the way companies and entrepreneurs are thinking about social networks.”
Cisco is positioning itself for the day when mainstream consumers are spending much of their time taking part in these online communities. With the acquisition of Tribe.net, it is also trying to further its quest to become a consumer-oriented company. In the last few years, it has purchased the wireless router company Linksys and the set-top-box maker Scientific Atlanta, giving it a significant presence in many American homes.
Also See:
second coming – Andreessen stakes name on Ning, February 28, 2007
The New York Times – Social Networking’s Next Phase, March 3, 2007
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