Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 342 posts

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#31

Post by bb88 »

polskibus wrote: post #16

Long time ago, Google chat supported XMPP. Later on that support has been cut off. How do they expect people to trust this statement: "We don’t believe in taking the approach that Apple does. We are fundamentally an open ecosystem. We believe in working with partners. We believe in working with our OEMs to be able to deliver a great experience,” ?

Because people want party parrots. And there isn't a standard to send party parrots through XMPP. /s

Okay, a little snarky, but it makes a point. Chat programs have a lot of proprietary features that won't translate through XMPP.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#32

Post by dannyw »

enitihas wrote: post #25
Arnt wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What has Google ever really marketed? Google's basic strategy seems to be to throw shit on the wall and see what sticks.

Google+ was heavily marketed though.

And it didn’t work. What makes you think it’ll work this time?

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#33

Post by eigenvector »

polskibus wrote: post #16

Long time ago, Google chat supported XMPP. Later on that support has been cut off. How do they expect people to trust this statement: "We don’t believe in taking the approach that Apple does. We are fundamentally an open ecosystem. We believe in working with partners. We believe in working with our OEMs to be able to deliver a great experience,” ?

It's almost as if they don't understand that much of the value of iOS as a platform comes from Apple's consistent willingness to tell carriers to go pound sand.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#34

Post by galadran »

No end to end encryption = no interest.

If I use this to communicate with a business (or person!), the carrier can read every word. No thanks.

Hell. You can't even download the standards documents without giving GSMA a name and address and consenting to receive promotional material...

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#36

Post by eloisant »

eigenvector wrote: post #29

RCS is an improvement to SMS but it does not address the core limitations: it is owned and controlled by carriers, so your ability to contact someone is entirely dependent on that user's carrier. It is tied to a single, physical device. WhatsApp shot to popularity because it was the opposite of SMS: an entirely over-the-top service that everyone could use, on any platform, without the consent, extra billing or buggy…

Frankly, I'd rather have a messaging system controlled by carriers but distributed among all of them (like SMS and RCS) than a messaging system fully controlled by a single company like Whatsapp, Telegram, Allo, iMessages and so on.

I can still switch carriers and be able to communicate with my friends.

The only issue I have with SMS is that it costs money when I'm not in my home country.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#37

Post by icebraining »

bhaavan wrote: post #20
bb88 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Years ago 1998ish(?), there was a fight to open up chat applications AIM, ICQ, YIM, etc. We had to have 20 apps to chat with each other. Fast forward 20 years, and here we are again, FB Messenger, Kik, WhatsApp, Allo, Signal, Telegram, SMS, Slack, etc. At least this appears to be a "standard" that everyone can use again.

https://xkcd.com/927/ Relevant xkcd.

Not really; the proliferation has been due to proprietary protocols, not due to efforts to create standard unifying ones.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#38

Post by toomanybeersies »

eigenvector wrote: post #29

RCS is an improvement to SMS but it does not address the core limitations: it is owned and controlled by carriers, so your ability to contact someone is entirely dependent on that user's carrier. It is tied to a single, physical device. WhatsApp shot to popularity because it was the opposite of SMS: an entirely over-the-top service that everyone could use, on any platform, without the consent, extra billing or buggy…

Whatsapp relies on a phone number for account activation though, doesn't it?

And if you lose that phone number and phone, you need to get a new whatsapp number. I have to keep my SIM from New Zealand with me so that when I get a new phone I can activate Whatsapp again.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#39

Post by baybal2 »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #26
polskibus wrote: post #16

Long time ago, Google chat supported XMPP. Later on that support has been cut off. How do they expect people to trust this statement: "We don’t believe in taking the approach that Apple does. We are fundamentally an open ecosystem. We believe in working with partners. We believe in working with our OEMs to be able to deliver a great experience,” ?

It’s funny because they squashed open standards when they were the big player and then push for open standards when they’ve lost market share. I wish companies believed in open standards for the value they bring to society, rather than selectively supporting them based on competitive interests.

I think there is a pattern with Google:

Social network: Orkut was their one and only working social network. Google - it is not great, so we raze it to the ground and make a better product... and they were trying to do so for last 12 years.

Messenger: Talk was their one and only working messenger. Google - it is not great, so we raze it to the ground and make a better product... and they were trying to do so for last 12 years.

Photo blog: Picasa was their one and only working photo blog. Google - it is not great, so we raze it to the ground and make a better product... and they were trying to do so for last 12 years.

New site: Reader was their one and only working news portal. Google - it is not great, so we raze it to the ground and make a better product... and they were trying to do so for last 12 years.

Casual blog: Blogger was their one and only working casual blogging site. Google - it is not great, so we raze it to the ground and make a better product... and they were trying to do so for last 12 years.

--

Google Photos is such a faceless product to the extend you get surprised time after time again to the fact of its existence when you see it popping up under different names after firmware updates.

Picasa was a photoblog, something with essence, community, and vaguely stated purpose. Photos, on the other hand... well, just a file dumpster with UI.

Re: Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS

#40

Post by eigenvector »

eloisant wrote: post #36
eigenvector wrote: post #29

RCS is an improvement to SMS but it does not address the core limitations: it is owned and controlled by carriers, so your ability to contact someone is entirely dependent on that user's carrier. It is tied to a single, physical device. WhatsApp shot to popularity because it was the opposite of SMS: an entirely over-the-top service that everyone could use, on any platform, without the consent, extra billing or buggy…

Frankly, I'd rather have a messaging system controlled by carriers but distributed among all of them (like SMS and RCS) than a messaging system fully controlled by a single company like Whatsapp, Telegram, Allo, iMessages and so on. I can still switch carriers and be able to communicate with my friends. The only issue I have with SMS is that it costs money when I'm not in my home country.

Re. being able to switch carriers and still communicate, what happens when you travel and (temporarily) get a local SIM? Are you suddenly messaging all your existing contacts from an unrecognized foreign number "Hi, it's John, this is my temporary Thai number..." and then relying on that message not getting binned by some spam algorithm? What prevents carriers from charging extra for RCS messages originating abroad?
Post reply on HN