In reply to Brian.

@joeseph

While the Zen / OSCommerce deal is like Jurassic time in web terms what you say is true. Marketing. Public perception is a core aspect thereof though there are considerably more.

Matt & crew appear to be well sighted into what the not so far future will be bringing forth.

Wordpress is one of perhaps 15 or 20 Open Source without pretenses projects out there that stands a good chance at not only surviving what is coming but also thriving within that new ecosystem on the horizon of the Internet.

The acquisition was a VERY smart move. As I've noted before, I am not sanguine towards CMS integration with eCommerce. Not principally mind you but due to implementations. Principally it makes of course TONS of sense. Rich content alongside marketable hard goods or soft goods is an obvious no brainer, Amazon is living proof. What sets Woo Commerce ahead of the usage curve in eCommerce is Wordpress. The ability to design contextual rich content around the merchant brand and hard/soft goods.

Implementation wise traditionally in CMS eCommerce the data such as customer orders, addressing etc. sits within the same database as the CMS content. Thus a security hole in any plugin may result in access to what is construed private information. I am sure Automattic will move towards getting that data secured and ciphered. This is going to become a legislative matter (as well as other matters such as Brand authorizations etc) in scant time. In other words, eCommerce standards are going to change and the changes "of course" favor the big guys.

eBays spinning off of PayPal is not simply a eBay business decision. Its just as much if not more so a decision based on whats coming down the pike.

There are many reasons behind it, some sorta "eh? Really?" and many really valid albeit perhaps sad. Counterfeits for example, certainly a valid reason for Brands to enforce their rights. Authorized resellers / distributorships is a rather sad tale. But it also ranges from counterfeits and more. The "more" being things such as eBay. For years they have tried reign in issues, many many issues that just continue to come forth. Now, its slated to change. Thats what Omni Channel is all about. Wasnt like eBay wanted spend billions and billions and billions of dollars on it. Its their future. PayPal doesnt have a spot in that so business wise, smart to spin it off. But there is more in as far as these brand and other matters manufacturers are hitting hard upon both in their own capabilities but towards legislators as well.

Additionally what coming forth can be of huge grace to some entities. Walmart for example in their online capabilities.

If Automattic does this all right, I could show Automattic how to make more revenues than Wordpress itself ever generate. Literally nickles .vs. thousand dollar bills.

Not done right, welp, Amazon, Alibaba, Walmart (thats right, Alibaba) will cream all players. Alibaba did not buy Auctiva and Volusion to have a toy and they according to analysts are slated to be in the 400+ billion dollar revenue zone by years end last I'd read. Thats #2 behind Walmart globally. All sorta "planned" unfolding pretend drama awaits the future by powers that be.

I'd love speak with Matt about it.

The internationalization of plugins, templates etc, also, excellent move. Its VERY important for this ecosystem of WP to not sit back and let time pass towards significant forward movements.

The Internet ecosystem is facing alot of change in the not so distant future. Its extremely important for a leadership role that Wordpress enjoys CLEARLY more so through Automattic than external influences to solidify or perhaps a better term entrench as more than anyone here probably would realize may depend upon it.

Kudos Matt & company. VERY well directed moves.

I have several (many several in fact) other shall we call them "issues" or "opportunities" (perhaps both be better) that I as a puny tot could never pursue but for Automattic be HUGE in solidification and entrenchment that I can assure you "the big boys" have not thought of. At least, not yet.