IBM selling The Weather Channel and the rest of its weather business::IBM will sell The Weather Company to Francisco Partners, a tech-focused private equity firm, for an undisclosed sum, it announced Tuesday.

  • ironcrotch@aussie.zone
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    1 year ago

    I used to love Weather Underground but stopped using it once The Weather Channel took over but crazy that IBM own that, what an odd acquisition.

    • vanontom@geddit.social
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      1 year ago

      I used to love the WU app, it was beautiful and accurate. A few years ago I started noticing more and more puzzling changes, before I realized IBM had purchased them. They ruined an incredible app. Seems like they just outsourced development to lowest international bidder.

  • t�m@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Does anyone know of a great alternative weather app?

    • nymwit@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      BM planned to leverage its Watson technology as part of the acquisition, foreseeing its use for weather analytics and predictions. The deal, which closed the following January,[27] does not include the Weather Channel itself, which remained owned by the Bain/Blackstone/NBCUniversal consortium, and entered into a long-term licensing agreement with IBM for use of its weather data and “The Weather Channel” name and branding

      wikipedia page for The Weather Channel

    • piecat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A good way to get GPS data. You “need” gps if you want your phone to show “weather near you”

  • to55@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    Makes sense. Now they can focus more on their core business. Google recently sold it’s domain registry, I think it might be the same thing.

    • methodicalaspect@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      I think it’s fair to look at IBM with a more cynical eye. Historically it’s been “acquire, way you’ll make no changes, wait a bit, make changes that piss off 80% of your customer base.” Somewhere in there is a “reduce customer service effectiveness” step that is distinct from “make changes.”

      After that it’s either “sell it off to the highest bidder” or “keep at it because who else are the customers gonna use?”

    • umami_wasabi@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      It’s a bummer that Google sold it’s registry to GoDaddySquarespace.

      EDIT: seems like I remember it incorrectly

    • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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      1 year ago

      I hear this a lot, but every company I’ve been a part of that did it seemed to be a bad idea. If a division makes money, the only reason to sell is because you believe the investment in that division can be used to make more money (for less). Getting rid of a profitable entity is usually greed based.

      • BlackSpasmodic@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        It’s corporate-speak that means nothing. The same company “focused on it’s core business” today will buy something unrelated sometime later and say it’s “poised for growth in a growing market”.