14 days ago
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Posted On: October 20th 2026, 06:59 pm
Apple's social network lived inside a store.
On September 1, 2010, Apple launched Ping inside iTunes 10. Steve Jobs pitched it as Facebook and Twitter meeting iTunes: follow artists like Lady Gaga, Coldplay and U2, follow your friends, post your favorite songs and albums, and tell people which concerts you were going to.
It opened in 23 countries, and a million people joined in the first 48 hours.
Then the cracks. The Facebook connection Apple had shown off at launch was pulled within days, over what Jobs called onerous terms from Facebook. What was left was a feed inside a store: 30-second previews, and a buy button next to almost every post.
Ping closed on September 30, 2012, just over two years in. Tim Cook's verdict: "We tried Ping and the customer voted." Apple replaced it with the Facebook and Twitter sharing in iTunes that it could not get at launch.
#RetroTech #VintageTech #OldTech
On September 1, 2010, Apple launched Ping inside iTunes 10. Steve Jobs pitched it as Facebook and Twitter meeting iTunes: follow artists like Lady Gaga, Coldplay and U2, follow your friends, post your favorite songs and albums, and tell people which concerts you were going to.
It opened in 23 countries, and a million people joined in the first 48 hours.
Then the cracks. The Facebook connection Apple had shown off at launch was pulled within days, over what Jobs called onerous terms from Facebook. What was left was a feed inside a store: 30-second previews, and a buy button next to almost every post.
Ping closed on September 30, 2012, just over two years in. Tim Cook's verdict: "We tried Ping and the customer voted." Apple replaced it with the Facebook and Twitter sharing in iTunes that it could not get at launch.
#RetroTech #VintageTech #OldTech
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