"What would be much smarter is using your own engineers to build that next disruption"

Could they, though? Facebook's DNA is information accumulation. As is Google's.

WhatsApp is the antithesis of this, and the likely outcome of this acquisition is the gradual decline of the product as people flock to whatever new, unburdened, anonymous replacement comes along.

But for a while it will boost the stock price because it keeps user engagement seemingly high.