Now, with the power of Twitter in his hands, Musk is all set to bring his long-held vision of an ‘everything app’ to life, under the brand ‘X.’ Let’s dive into the fascinating history and future prospects of this transformation.
The Origin of ‘X’: An Ambitious Dream
Musk’s fascination with ‘X.com’ was more than just a business venture. According to Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Musk’s upcoming book, ‘Elon Musk: Tesla and the Quest for a Fantastic Future,’ Musk envisaged it as a comprehensive platform covering all financial services. He conceptualized a platform that would offer banking, digital purchases, credit cards, investments, loans, and more, all under one roof.
His concept for http://X.com was grand. It would be a one-stop everything-store for all financial needs: banking, digital purchases, checking, credit cards, investments, and loans. Transactions would be handled instantly, with no waiting for payments to clear. His insight was that money is simply an entry into a database, and he wanted to devise a way that all transactions to be securely recorded in real-time. – Walter Isaacson.
Musk’s vision was to turn money into data and record, securely, all transactions in real-time, with the aim of making it a multitrillion-dollar company.
A New Era
The announcement of the new face of Twitter has already brought significant changes within the company. The iconic bird logo and the ‘Twitter’ brand name are being phased out, making way for a letter. Linda Yaccarino, Twitter’s CEO, has expressed her excitement about this transformation, emphasizing the potential to create a global marketplace and connect people in unprecedented ways.
The Transition Phase: Removing the Bird Logo
As a part of this transformation, the bird logo, an integral part of Twitter’s identity since 2006, is being replaced with a stylized version of the 24th letter of the Latin alphabet. Inside Twitter’s headquarters, new logos are now projected in the cafeteria, and meeting rooms have been renamed with words containing the letter.
The Future of ‘X’: An Everything App
Looking ahead, Musk plans to turn it into an ‘everything app,’ which would not only facilitate social networking but also banking and shopping. He even shared a photo of a giant ‘X’ projected on Twitter’s San Francisco office building, symbolizing the imminent transformation.
The changes reflect Musk’s intention to overhaul the company thoroughly, which includes eliminating thousands of employees, altering the platform’s features, and changing the rules governing the platform’s content.
The Competition: Threads vs. X
As ‘X’ undergoes transformation, it faces stiff competition from emerging social media platforms like Threads, owned by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Threads reached an impressive 100 million users within five days, setting a record for the fastest app to do so.
