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It's time to stop texting

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Re: It's time to stop texting

#181

Post by josephcsible »

josephcsible wrote: post #178
valarauko wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if you use WhatsApp and Meta decides to ban you Genuine Q: is this something that ever happens?

Yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9309038 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14415265 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24776748 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25475751 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25881112 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25884019 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31577325 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33015769

One more very relevant one that I missed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31707349

Re: It's time to stop texting

#184

Post by mickelsen »

spookthesunset wrote: post #125
theonlybutlet wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the rest of the world the answer is simply Whatsapp. China it's WeChat. No need to discuss. You can also see if their contact is in the app.

I’m guessing but in these other countries were SMS messages cheap/free?

While yes for many in the subsequent years, it wasn't at the time WhatsApp took over the world in 2011-2012. It didn't help for SMS when telcos were already giving unlimited social media in their plans and even prepaid, even when this already started to include unlimited SMS as well; people already migrated.

Its simplicity, cross-platform (as people out there use Android more than iOS) and user base was and still is the big moat; there have been quite superior applications over the years, yet none of them are used as the main messenger except by some niche communities. Telegram has been there since 2013, it's quite popular because of the features but I doubt it will take over: WhatsApp is enough and everyone already knows it.

Re: It's time to stop texting

#185

Post by aendruk »

mnd999 wrote: post #85

Mine always go as iMessages, which has none of these issues.

None of the issues mentioned under the section about iMessage?

iMessage would be great if Apple allowed cross platform clients. Until then as far as I’m concerned it doesn’t exist.

Sent from my iPhone.

Re: It's time to stop texting

#187

Post by theonlybutlet »

LarryMullins wrote: post #133
ploum wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because most of the initial success was before Facebook bought Whatsapp. Until recently, lot of people were ignoring that their whatsapp was part of facebook (but those people were also using facebook messenger anyway). Germany and Switzerland have some exotic secure messengers that were quite popular (and may still be) like threema. There was also some quite suprizing stuff. My inlaws were, until recently, usi…

> Maybe because most of the initial success was before Facebook bought Whatsapp. I guess. But it doesn't really explain why it continues to be so popular, to the extent that even on forums like this (where well-grounded skepticism of big tech companies like Facebook is generally taken for granted) you have Europeans acting like Americans are backwards fools for not wanting to jump into bed with Facebook.

It is on every persons phone, it is the defacto standard. There was a big push about two years back by many people to change application when Whatsapp's privacy policy was changing and many pushed telegram and signal. The two or three of my friends, who left and held out, have now reinstalled Whatsapp. There's simply no easy way for them to speak to everyone else. People are reluctant to text and won't bother installing another application. (BTW this was in Africa.)

Re: It's time to stop texting

#188

Post by theonlybutlet »

henrikschroder wrote: post #172
progman32 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did you find?

For example this map: https://www.similarweb.com/blog/research/market-research/wor... This map also only shows the most popular, but that doesn't mean it's the dominant messaging app in that country. It's very, very messy.

It's safe to say the median app is Whatsapp. Countries like Australia still use Whatsapp. This picture you provided excludes the rest of subsaharan Africa which uses Whatsapp.

I'd rather not cite the below but where's smoke there's fire. This indicates Whatsapp has twice the active users of Messenger. https://www.statista.com/statistics/258749/most-popular-glob...

Re: It's time to stop texting

#189

Post by nunez »

yeah but the solution isn't ivory towers owning our communications or having to choose a bunch of apps either. i'd prefer some kind of an industry standard that is cross-platform and works with built-in messaging clients

something like rcs, but without the drama

i know for sure that i can sms nearly anyone. can't say that about signal (which i have tried, and it is nice)

Re: It's time to stop texting

#190

Post by nunez »

daveslash wrote: post #68
Rayhem wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this feels a lot like saying "My god, people, stop using telephones! Facetime has video! And the bitrate ! It's a million times higher! It's 2023, why would anyone use a POTS call?!" Sure, nicer technical specs are...nice, but they're a far, far second to solving a problem. In an sms world: Problem: I need to contact a new acquaintance. Solution: Exchange phone numbers because everyone has them. Text. Or call.…

"My God people, stop using AM/FM Radio! It's an analog signal, and this is a digital world! The quality and bit rate is so low! Use your phone + Spotify + Bluetooth for music! Use your phone + podcasts + Bluetooth for news, talk, and opinion, or switch to satellite radio! " Problem: In breaking news moments like this, there should be a type of podcast you can listen to in real time, easily accessible for free. Soluti…

this is kind of like tesla removing am on model 3/y

it's super old and sounds like shit but it works really really well and is great for relaying critical information that we now cannot get

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