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

WeChat’s world

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–109 of 109 posts

Re: WeChat’s world

#101

Post by kartickv »

Sad to see so many comments that seem like knee-jerk or one-sided criticism. I expected better from Hacker News.

Sure, point out flaws in something, like the centralised nature, but only after recognising its benefits.

For example, not having to download umpteen apps and juggle umpteen accounts and enter your credit card everywhere is a big plus. I just want to make an appointment with the doctor without researching which app to install for that purpose, choosing between multiple apps, creating a user name and password, giving my credit card (which I wouldn't give to an unknown app) and so on. It certainly has downsides, but advantages as well.

Often, I care about getting the job done, not about researching and finding the best app to make an appointment. Even if the centralised decision-maker (WeChat) chose a second-best app, using the second-best app to book an appointment beats booking the appointment on phone because I couldn't bother to research between multiple apps in an open ecosystem. Sometimes, a good enough default beats choice.

Again, pros and cons. Let's recognise both. Since many of the other posters have pointed out (valid) criticisms, I've focused on the other side of the coin.

Re: WeChat’s world

#102

Post by kartickv »

ryanobjc wrote: post #67

This article is a little weird to me. It seems to read fairly ok, seems pretty pro wechat, which is fine. Then I realized that the article was saying things like: "HSBC, a bank" "BMW, a german car maker" "Goldman Sachs, an investment bank" Which got me thinking... who is the audience for this article? Probably not the average Economist reader, who knows who HSBC, BMW and GS are. In fact they know that "GS" means Gold…

I don't know what you mean by "boosterism" (is that a US term?) but I don't see what's wrong with a pro-WeChat article if The Economist genuinely believes WeChat is amazing, or is recognising its advantages.

Not shying away from expressing opinion makes The Economist 10x more useful than other news sources, which merely report the facts, which I often know because everyone has already repeated them ad nauseam. I learn much more from reading an article in The Economist than other sources.

Regarding your other point, The Economist style guide says that writers shouldn't assume that readers already know what a given company does. Hence, "HSBC, a bank". Because there are many companies that are not familiar. Do you know what Idea is, for example? Answer: An Indian cell network.

Re: WeChat’s world

#103

Post by idra »

nullnilvoid wrote: post #69
morgante wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have in fact used WeChat (particularly when I was in China) and my opinion is that it's still incredibly mediocre. In just a few weeks of using it, I ran into numerous bugs and inconsistencies—not to mention the fact that it's a giant walled garden with zero privacy. Unfortunately, it is essential in China (primarily because alternatives are throttled/banned). I definitely would never use it anywhere else though if…

Can you elaborate on the bugs you found during the weeks? I have used it years and have yet found any bug.

Push notifications have been broken on iOS for over a year already. You don't receive them unless the WeChat is open in the background.

Re: WeChat’s world

#104

Post by xg15 »

elorant wrote: post #46
delegate wrote: post #3

.. which is terrible. Apps like these (including Facebook) are breaking the Internet. Now it's up to the social network to decide how resources are located (what standards?), who can access them, and for how long, etc. Saw a good video in your Facebook timeline ? Good luck finding it again after you refresh the page. It's a pity how 'the crowd' is now dictating the direction in which technology evolves. By trying to…

As much as I dislike Facebook saying that they break the Internet is a bit of an overstretch. The Internet isn’t a static thing, a set of rules carved on stone that has to remain like that for an eternity. It’s an evolving medium constantly reinventing itself. And the ultimate ruler is users themselves. Facebook isn’t in the business of creating content that’s why they don’t care that much with discoverability of pos…

The iPhone wasn’t build with third party apps in mind, it was the demand of users that allowed that to happen.

Note though that before Apple allowed third-party apps, they took time to invent the concept and technology of the "app store" which allows then to strictly regulate all apps by their own (often arbitrary) standards.

This is exactly the Internet we once dreamed about. A widespread communication network with no central command where everyone and their dog can participate.

No one would complain if that were the case. But we do have central commands. Not a single one, but a handful of them. With the network controlled liked this, the huge participation rate could actually result in the opposite of the original vision of the internet: Not a network that allows people to grow and become more free but a network that enfoces conformity and enhances suppression. I think China's Sesame Credit system is a good example of that direction.

Re: WeChat’s world

#105

Post by sdm »

idra wrote: post #103
nullnilvoid wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on the bugs you found during the weeks? I have used it years and have yet found any bug.

Push notifications have been broken on iOS for over a year already. You don't receive them unless the WeChat is open in the background.

Huh? Push notification work just fine. I use WeChat daily on my iPhone and never had an issue with push notifications.

Re: WeChat’s world

#106

Post by sdm »

IAgreeBut wrote: post #93
Trufa wrote: post #48

Has anyone criticizing it actually tried weChat? I know that there are better ways to do things, and you don't have to accept the "Chinese way" of doing things, but that's mainly politics, and yes there ARE a lot of privacy concerns, but, and there's a big but. Technically speaking, the app is amazing. I recently used it to talk to my girlfriend while she's in China and seriously, it's the best (face to face) communi…

WeChat has preferential QOS guarantees through the Great Firewall. Due to that alone, its miles and miles ahead of any other voice/video chat app. Even if the feature set sucked , it would be worth using simply because it works so much better than everything else. It works better than the phone, in my experience, for voice chat. But using it between say two people in north, central, and/or south america? Eh. There's…

> WeChat has preferential QOS guarantees through the Great Firewall. Due to that alone, its miles and miles ahead of any other voice/video chat app.

The thing is the OP is not talk just about going across the GFW. Even in Canada calling someone else in Canada, the quality is FAR above what you get with Skype.

Re: WeChat’s world

#107

Post by runn1ng »

yyhhsj0521 wrote: post #99
tluyben2 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah never tried it. I will now :)

How can you get your contacts migrate to Telegram?

Hard :)

The network effect is hard to overcome. I migrated to it just because a lot of people in my company used it.

You can try to persuade just the friends that you talk to the most, and if they will like it, let them share it further. Or not, if they don't.

Re: WeChat’s world

#108

Post by jasonlingx »

aantix wrote: post #66
jasonlingx wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's horrible and I often have to reboot my computer whilst using it.

Why would you have to reboot your computer if an app is failing? I don't think I've had to do this since running Windows 2000..

Exactly...

It actually starts saying it is unable to connect to my speakers and microphone...

Re: WeChat’s world

#109

Post by bwangsta »

5 years in China now: WeChat is my primary connection online. I check email once every 2-3 days, Facebook once every few months and usually just to turn off notifications that never seem to actually stay off. WeChat allows me to pay my utility bills, Call taxis, buy a soda, send out promotions for events, publish my photos, stalk friends, find movie tickets and reserve seats, buy a box of avocadoes, find a group of expectant mothers, and the list goes on and on. This is the social network that Chinese people use and folks in the West don't get how pervasive it is.
Post reply on HN