Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: “The iPad’s Not Mobile.”

John Brownlee (8:03 am PDT, Nov 04 2010)

Yesterday, Facebook hosted a media event to announce the company’s plans to tie local business advertising into its Places functionality, but at the Q&A following the event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprising claim: the iPad’s not mobile.

The characterization came after an attendee asked Zuckerberg when the iPad would get a native Facebook app.

The answer? Never. Facebook expects you to use the Facebook website on the iPad. And why? Because Facebook only makes app for mobile devices, and “the iPad’s not mobile… it’s a computer.”

We’re sure Steve Jobs would disagree… and after he said it, it seems like Zuckerberg realized he was risking the ire of the man himself, quickly clarifying that he wasn’t trying to be rude to Apple and that “we all love Apple products,” but that the “iPad just isn’t mobile in the same way.”

I think the iPad is certainly more mobile than even a laptop, but I have to say, Zuckerberg at least has a point about a native iPad app: while the iPhone’s screen is simply too small to use the regular Facebook site, there’s absolutely no reason not to use Facebook’s regular website on the iPad.

DON'T MISS
Facebook Changes Its Mind On A Native iPad App

Apps you might like

32 comments »

Phil
“there’s absolutely no reason not to use Facebook’s regular website on the iPad”
What about uploading photos?
Jim
Mark Zuckerberg is just a noob. I use an ipad because i need to “see” what i am doing. Sorry i’m slated for the cornfield at 58.
Greenhouse
what about push notifications, what about leaving an app running vrs having have a page open, what about pictures, what about…. i mean come on.
Greenhouse
oh and this site seriously needs more server capacity or some extra thru-put, freaking takes forever to load anything and often throws errors. what gives?
Joey Maloney
What about Facebook chat? See above, “i mean come on.”
jim
Bottom line: if your customers tell you they want a facebook app for an iPad then you deliver a facebook app for the iPad. It’s really not that hard to understand.
http://www.cultofmac.com/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-the-ipads-not-mobile/67706#more-67706 Thomas
Ye I would use the site but u can’t chat to people on it
checkyoulater
he may have a point if his standards of definition for what a mobile is different or more restricted to say something that is pocketable. But the full site on the ipad is surely no way to experience facebook in the best possible way.
asid from what is already mentioned, the site itself was made for mouse/desktop interaction not touch devices. The multitude of miniaturized icon clutter is just a horrible view of what could be the most used app on the ipad. not to mention the 3G version does have a fully functioning GPS chip that can work their stupid places implementation
Eric
@Phil—You can upload photos on the regular page.
@Greenhouse–there are push notifications and pictures on the regular page
@greenhouse–You should check your hardware–generally only takes a few seconds to load for me.
@Thomas-You can chat oh the site.
Dar Kimen
There is a little truth to both sides.
The iPad is not fully mobile. I can pocket my iPhone. My iPad is mobile in the sense I can more easily carry it around but when I want to be “out and about” my mobile device is my smart phone. So there is an element of truth to the iPad is not fully mobile.
That said, other posters are also correct. It is really shortsighted to not have a native Facebook app on the iPad. The device is mobile enough that I have it laying around where I am in the house much more frequently than I want a laptop. Fortunately, we have a number of good Facebook iPad apps anyway.
IPadPwner
John and Mark probably have one and know – When the app crashes, that is it; there is no error log, no debugging. Whatever you were doing is gone like a dropped call. The Nero browser is responsive and fast, but the reality of what you have in your hands is something you really need to experience, the word computer here is very misleading. I love the Ipad, but I love it for what it does; it is a touch screen with computer features and I am quite happy, pictures are awesome on it.
Rhonin
I absolutely agree.
Many people may “want” the app functionality on the iPad but the iPad by itself is not a mobile device.
Then again, shortcomings imposed by Apple on iPad functionality may drive to development of an iPad app. I can see this – (and I can see the replies coming) as the iPad is not much more than a large iTouch – folks are looking for similiar solutions.
As other tablets are rolled out (Win, Chrome, Android, etc…) I think the addoption on the iPad of using the standard FB page will become reality.
Mikael Fransson
Apps vs. Web Apps on iOS devices. We already know who won that “war”.
As a user I will choose the app every time. The user experience is just sooooo much better.
Web Apps Suck compared to a native app.
/Mikael
Me
Chat won’t work on the iPad.
davor
No the iPad not mobile. I own one and can say it. In fact when Yahoo Mail decided to treat it as mobile, they made an awful iPad version of their mail that is less functional than iPad’s built-in eMail and way less functional than Yahoo’s regular Web Mail that I have been using until then — and you have no option to switch. So basically I don’t have Web mail on iPad any more. Yahoo UI people are idiots, but either way I’m glad Facebook won’t be making a diminished experience of their site.
http://www.twitter.com/tHoj101 Tyler
THANK YOU! I find the iPad isn’t portable at all. Just as portable as my macbook pro with less than a tenth of what this i7 puppy can do. I still don’t find the iPad a replacement for an apple laptop t all.
charli
why not just use the site. no uploads, half the video (if not all) is flash served. no push.
mind you the app technically does work on the ipad. because all iphone apps do. it just won’t be pretty. So why they couldn’t make a universal app with the proper pretty for the ipad is my question.
http://www.twitter.com/tHoj101 Tyler
In the picture it kinda looks like the facebook guy is holding a sword and is ready go nuts.
minimalist
Has Zuckerberg actually USED his own site on an iPad because um, its not that great of an experience. The touch targets are tiny, some pop ups are not all that responsive without a real mouse and the text is so damn small on a 9.7″ screen that you are always zooming and panning to read content.
Yes, I know there are “touch” and “mobile” versions of the site. Neither of them are great. And I know there are several 3rd party makers of Facebook apps. None of them are that great either. It’s not like the iPad is a risky bet. There will likely be 10 million of them in the wild by the end of the year. Why on earth would you want to irritate that many people with a bad experience if your livelihood depends on ad views?
Pauly
Oh Facebook, always telling us what we want, never listening to what we’re asking for. That is lame.
I use Facebook because it keeps me in contact with a lot of my friends, however I truly believe if FB keeps doing stupid things with privacy and the like, people WILL jump ship. This is the internet after all, where time moves at a different rate and people are fickle.
Facebook has become cocky and I think that will be their eventual downfall. Won’t happen overnight, but I do think it will happen. It’s not like they don’t have the resources to create an iPad app.
http://www.GetTimeWebDesign.com Jonathon Villaescusa
I think I have to agree with Zuckerberg in that isn’t that the point of an iPad…to be a more mobile laptop. It is a big enough screen and its functionality is to perform still as a laptop. Your phone is mobile, it goes everywhere you go. iPad on the other hand wont go with you to the Laker game or to a Wedding but your iPhone will…Just my view though.
http://cultofmac.com Lonnie Lazar
I think if Z was more truthful, he’d have admitted that FB has little interest in developing an iPad app because they haven’t managed — so far — to develop one that doesn’t pretty much suck for the iPhone. In addition, the FB experience itself, by and large, is not “mobile.” It’s generally geared toward people sitting at a desk in front of a monitor, using a keyboard.
Jailbreaker
Jailbreak then use fullforce with the iPhone version – no pixelation, mission accomplished.
Arly1234
Zuckenburg is a dumb rich kid who got his billions from conning his friends/business partners. I wish those of his his ilk would just dry up and blow away. The less con men in the world the better.
Tai
Has any of you people who say you can upload a photo from the regular site on an iPad actually used the regular site ON a iPad? You cannot upload a photo unless you get out of the browser and mail the photo to your Facebook account. The upload from the local disk does not work.
Mike
Newsflash Mr.Zuckerberg! THE iPad IS BASED ON APPS!!
Joe
Jobs should ban Facebook from ever selling anything on the Apple store, and that includes for the iPhone/iPod and then we’ll see how fast there’s an iPad app on the market. Facebook banned from iPhone and iPod Touch would really hurt.
HS
Ultimately it boils down to this: if social networking sites were countries, Facebook would be Nazi Germany. Zuckerberg is really stating ‘You are not to use Facebook on iPad, PERIOD.’ Also, ‘Users are not entitled to privacy or to choose who they can add, or to an opinion about Facebook features.’ Zuckerberg’s opinion is WE ARE GOD and users are scum. We tell you what you will use and we OWN social networking.
Truth be told, if Facebook keeps this up, I foresee a new golden age for Myspace. Or a new site will pop up and demolish Facebook, Twitter & Myspace.
http://www.cultofmac.com/facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-the-ipads-not-mobile/67706 cybernet
Facebook Photo Uploader for iPad
The BEST Facebook Photo uploader – the easiest and fastest way of uploading photos from your iPad to Facebook.
Easy and intuitive interface to uploading PHOTOS to Facebook to share with friends and family
Download Now:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook-photo-uploader-for/id408088672?mt=8
http://www.facebook.com/ChrisBakerPhotography Chris Baker
Uhh, that’s stupid and ridiculous, and I will give you a VERY good reason not to use the website on the iPad… You can’t upload images from the iPad because the device disallows access to the native file system. You HAVE TO use an app to get access to photos to upload to Facebook.
I know this is an old thread, but I think after all this time, and with the leaked Facebook for iPad app recently discovered, it’s time for Zuckerberg to eat some crow.
http://twitter.com/Candium ☮ Bart
Everyone knows Facebook encourages you to use your mobile phone for Facebook because of the GPS tracking.
http://www.facebook.com/ChrisBakerPhotography Chris Baker
Well now the locations are integrated into the ipad app, so there is no need for Facebook to want you to use your phone. They can track your locations on your iPad and feed you localized advertisements, and use the data they collect to market advertisers in certain fields. It’s brilliant.

About the author

John Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

(sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)| Read more posts by John Brownlee.

Posted in News | Tagged: Apps, ceo, facebook, iPad, mark zuckerberg, mobile |