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Facebook AI Programming Social Networks

Facebook Shuts Down Creative Labs (cnet.com) 62

Posted by samzenpus from the end-of-the-line dept.
An anonymous reader writes: Facebook has shut down Creative Labs and has pulled several apps developed there, namely Slingshot, Riff, and Rooms, from the app store. Creative labs was launched two years ago but few of the apps produced caught on with consumers. CNET reports: "Facebook is famous for its mantra 'Move fast and break things.' The company decided some of these initiatives had, in fact, failed to gain traction and is shutting them down. The move marks a turning point for Facebook's app ambitions as it focuses on other areas of innovation. It's still building artificial-intelligence technology, drones to beam Internet signals to far-flung parts of the world and virtual-reality goggles. The company has also been steadily adding features to its primary social-networking service, such as live streaming and 360-degree videos."
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Facebook Shuts Down Creative Labs More

Facebook Shuts Down Creative Labs

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  • Yet the other Creative Labs [soundblaster.com] is still up.

    For a moment, I thought "I knew they bought Oculus, but I didn't know about Sound Blaster." Then I read the article.

    • You are old. So am I... Because I thought the same thing... That Samzenpus is such a youngster, that it did not even occur to him to mention the other Creative Labs, was a surprise...

      • It's been a while since I had to buy a dedicated SB audio card, but I'm happy that they still exist, even if only for high end systems.

        How far has /. fallen that the 'editor' didn't think to at least clarify what is being discussed.

        • How far has /. fallen that the 'editor' didn't think to at least clarify what is being discussed.

          Lol. Same way things have always been, unless a 5 or 4 digit UID wants to show me how much of a whippersnapper I'm being?

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by Equuleus42 ( 723 )

            Lol. Same way things have always been, unless a 5 or 4 digit UID wants to show me how much of a whippersnapper I'm being?

            Get off my lawn!

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by KGIII ( 973947 )

              Heh... My first (now forgotten) UUID was not as low as yours but I do, distinctly, remember the thread in your signature. Those are some funny comments to read.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by pci ( 13339 )

              I put off signing up for a user id for a couple weeks when they first launched, it is my biggest regret.
              lol

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Miser ( 36591 )

            Not as low as Jon Abbott below, so ...

            "Get off my sidewalk!" :)

            I also thought Facebook had borg'ed Creative Labs (Sound Blaster) and was shutting them down, almost was going to google around for that and then I RTFA and breathed a sigh of relief.

        • How far has /. fallen that the 'editor' didn't think to at least clarify what is being discussed.

          Slashdot editors haven't edited anything short of the most egregious of offenses in many years now. They most certainly don't deserve the title, and likely spend more time hunting for new potential employment than they do any "editing".

        • It's been a while since I had to buy a dedicated SB audio card, but I'm happy that they still exist, even if only for high end systems.

          How far has /. fallen that the 'editor' didn't think to at least clarify what is being discussed.

          I still have my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum thanks to DanielK and his efforts to keep the drivers working on the latest versions of Windows. Still sounds better than the built-in audio chipsets in my opinion...

          I'll probably have to say goodbye to it I go to Skylake. Most Skylake motherboards have dropped the PCI slot, though there are some that still include it.

        • How far has /. fallen that the 'editor' didn't think to at least clarify what is being discussed.

          You're obviously not new here, but really?

          People have been lamenting the quality of the editors as long as there has been a Slashdot. At least that's how I remember it.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dos1 ( 2950945 )

        Obligatory "I'm just in my early twenties and I also thought about Sound Blaster" post:

        I'm just in my early twenties and I also thought about Sound Blaster!

    • Re:I read the headline and thought Sound Blaster (Score:4, Funny)

      by sconeu ( 64226 ) on Monday December 07, 2015 @07:09PM (#51077111) Homepage Journal

      <AOL> Me too! </AOL>

    • Re:I read the headline and thought Sound Blaster (Score:4, Insightful)

      by TWX ( 665546 ) on Monday December 07, 2015 @07:29PM (#51077215)

      Yet the other Creative Labs [soundblaster.com] is still up.

      For a moment, I thought "I knew they bought Oculus, but I didn't know about Sound Blaster." Then I read the article.

      Makes you wonder if they closed it in part as a response to a legal challenge over trademark...

      • And yet they had no problem ripping off from Ad Lib. Remember the Creative Music System, a.k.a. Game Blaster? What a sorry excuse of a soundcard that was.

    • I thought it was about time. R.I.P., SoundBlaster.

    • The Soundblaster was the first audio card I ever bought, and it was amazing for its time. I think it was about $100, and that was in 1990 or thereabouts if I recall correctly.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Me too. How can Facebook use that copyrighted name? :/

    • Same here, I thought "Damn, no Windows 10 drivers for my X-Fi then"

  • Phew (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    That's one less thing I have to not give a shit about.
    Next up: Oculus Rift.

  • Or perhaps... (Score:3)

    by Mogster ( 459037 ) on Monday December 07, 2015 @06:58PM (#51077027)

    ... they got fed up with people asking when the next Sound Blaster was coming out http://creative.com/ [creative.com]

    When I read the head line my first thought was - when did Facebook get into computer audio components?

    • My first thought was "it's about time they were put out of their misery; I haven't needed a separate sound card in 15 years!" My second thought was "wait, WTF does Facebook have to do with it?"

  • I'm really surprised Facebook is so tapped out on growth for social networking that they have to make wild stabs at various other totally unrelated areas of technology.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hawguy ( 1600213 )

      I'm really surprised Facebook is so tapped out on growth for social networking that they have to make wild stabs at various other totally unrelated areas of technology.

      They have 1.5B active monthly users -- pretty much all of the people that want to use Facebook *are* using Facebook, so they have to look elsewhere to expand.

      • Growing users is only one factor though. Add a feature that 1/4 of those users will pay $2 for and there's another $750 mil in the bank. Better yet, a feature worth paying $2 a month for.

  • You will pry my Sound Blaster (Score:3)

    by iamacat ( 583406 ) on Monday December 07, 2015 @07:21PM (#51077183)

    From my cold, dead hands!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Nite_Hawk ( 1304 )

      From my cold, dead hands!

      Feel free to keep it, I'll hang on to my GUS. :P

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Stele ( 9443 )

        Back in the era of the original IBM PC and its clones (I had a Sanyo MBC-550, which had upgraded graphics from the IBM and could do *8* colors at once, at 640x200, instead of just the usual 4), the PC speaker had to be pulsed directly by the CPU to make any noise. Pulse it at 440hz and you have middle A, etc. While it was making noise, the CPU couldn't do anything else. To make music or sound effects you kind of had to split up whatever sound you wanted so the CPU had a chance to "do stuff". There was a mag

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by iamacat ( 583406 )

          I am pretty sure games of the day managed to both make noise and do other stuff with CPU at the same time.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Stele ( 9443 )

            They did - I mentioned that they intercut code to do sound with other processing, so sound effects had somewhat "tinny" sounds because it could only "play" a few ms of sound at a time, then let the CPU do other things, then played more sound, etc. There was no threading or specialized sound hardware to do both simultaneously.

      • Fine by me, I'll be over here with my Aureal A3D2.
  • So they make a website with postings, pictures, links and advertisements. Do they honestly think they will ever be more than that?

  • How? (Score:2)

    by Trogre ( 513942 )

    How can Facebook, a social media website, have any say in the future of a sound card company?

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