As a consumer I'm excited by the vision these convergent solutions sell, in a futuristic "I just carry one device" way, but I think the reason they haven't kicked off is that in reality you don't just have monitors and keyboards and mice lying around wherever you go.
A significant part of the value prop of the "mobile" desktop is that you can "just plug in", but if you have to carry a keyboard and mouse well you might as well also carry the incredibly thin screen it's attached to on a laptop.
Yes -- we have both native APIs (iOS and soon Android), and a web based API (JavaScript). Our JavaScript SDK is designed for you to easily extend an existing web-based application to enable in-person payments.
I'm surprised with how many comments here are focusing on Zuck and not the market play for Facebook.
I've worked at large companies that claim to be innovative. More often than not, short-term demands made by Wall Street guide business decisions in increasingly poor ways (reducing employee benefits, stymieing R&D, etc.)
This announcement obviously helps Zuckerberg personally, but it does also provide a signal to the market for Facebook's direction.
A significant part of the value prop of the "mobile" desktop is that you can "just plug in", but if you have to carry a keyboard and mouse well you might as well also carry the incredibly thin screen it's attached to on a laptop.