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Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#761

Post by raziel2p »

MayeulC wrote: post #391
raziel2p wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, it's not like "the nerds" can build a better product in terms of UX anyway, and definitely can't market it better. Besides, who says "the nerds" are trustworthy anyway? They keep arguing among each other about which operating system or programming language is best, and why should we take their advice when software security vulnerabilities keep being discovered? Not disagreeing with your point - it's become too ea…

I'd trust most nerds over most salesmen, but hat's what people do by clicking "I agree". Don't deal with the devil.

Kind of want to agree, but you're comparing the extremes on both sides. The truth is somewhere in-between, and consider that for mainstream products like WhatsApp or Windows or whatever, the general public never deal with actual salesmen, just word of mouth and marketing.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#764

Post by benhurmarcel »

robjan wrote: post #168
Bellamy wrote: post #70

I like Threema because it works and the business model simple. Pay a few bucks and get it forever.

The business model is unsustainable and relies on constantly growing the userbase since there is no recurring revenue.

It's still a lot more sustainable than their competitors.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#765

Post by bartvk »

infinite_beam wrote: post #503
rodolphoarruda wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Brazil as well. Everybody uses Whatsapp. It is now so entrenched into society that it turned to be part of its popular culture. When people say "I'm part of a group of old car enthusiasts", they meant they are part of a Whatsapp group in which they discuss old cars. Countless online services and apps were replaced by Whatsapp over the years, from the top of my head: all IMs, customer service apps, e-commerce (…

WhatsApp reigns supreme in India as well; we now have characters in TV shows and movies saying lines like, "I will WhatsApp you the details." WhatsApp might be Zuck's most significant purchase for global domination (at least for now).

Here in The Netherlands, we say "I will app you the details". In certain sentences, it does get a bit confusing.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#766

Post by Retric »

1f60c wrote: post #738
rapnie wrote: post #585

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interoperability enforcement may become part of the EU Digital Markets Act.

If the GDPR is any indication, WhatsApp could just choose to stop offering its services in the EU.

That would seriously break the network effect and eventually kill them off. Skype, Yahoo Messenger, etc got popular because they where free and easy to use. However, the market is really fickle and network effects can kill stuff off really quickly.

WhatsApp is already DOA in my circle of friends, it might come back but the odds aren’t great.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#767

Post by godelski »

josephg wrote: post #71
lucideer wrote: post #64

NOTE: I don't know what Zom is so ignoring it in the below. Viber, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Threema and Discord are all built on the same paradigm: accounts tied to a single service and thus the inertia of network effect makes vendor lock-in a real problem when acquisitions happen or Terms of Service change. Signal is in theory the "best" of these 5 options in the short-term, but it being open source is utterly ir…

Moxie Marlinspike (the guy behind Signal) talked about his rationale for making signal centralized here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj3YFprqAr8 Its been a year and I'm still not sure if I agree with him - which is the sign of a very juicy talk!

I think it makes more sense to use federated protocols after you've reached a certain critical mass of features and usability. Look how much Signal has improved in the last 6 months. That would be harder with a federated system as people just don't update apps. I'll buy a push for Signal to become federated when it is fully featured (which may be pretty soon). Also at that point, what is to stop people from making a federated Signal? Or creating a fork that allows contact with the centralized server AND a federated space? Is it impossible to have a mixture?

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#768

Post by Triv888 »

CodeGlitch wrote: post #753

Why isn't Skype suggested more often? I've been using it instead of Zoom very successfully. I've moved a lot of my family over to it for our pandemic get togethers. It works very well as a generic messaging platform. Microsoft in my opinion is a far more respectable company compared to Facebook.

I switched away from Skype when Microsoft bought it because there was something fishy (They converted it from P2P, which worked quite well, to MS-owned servers). I wish someone would leak the pre-MS source code.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#769

Post by coolspot »

ffpip wrote: post #641
ryanlol wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s not forget that Telegram backdoored their encrypted chat implementation and got caught.

Link.

Best I can find with keywords “telegram” and “backdoor” is this article: https://socialbarrel.com/telegram-founder-makes-shocking-bac...

Which discusses how Telegram was banned in many countries for refusing cooperation while WhatsApp suspiciously was never banned, which could mean that WhatsApp gives governments everything they demand.

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