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Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

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Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#101

Post by garygao »

trollbridge wrote: post #86
frumplestlatz wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I genuinely can’t tell if this is naivety or willful ignorance, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. This is in direct violation of the terms of service, and Apple invests a lot of money in keeping iMessage clean of this kind of misuse. They control the servers, the client, certificate provisioning, hardware identification, and user identification. They can trivially trace a registered account to the point o…

I also can’t tell why these use cases can’t just use RCS.

SMS/RCS is better for some use cases (e.g. transactional messaging, promotions, or order updates) while iMessage is better for others (e.g. customer service). iMessage is better for these use cases because it feels more natural to the users texting the number

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#102

Post by rob »

treme wrote: post #78
landl0rd wrote: post #75

I think this is bad and antisocial and you should shut it down. I like imessage because businesses cannot easily use it. The people who are most willing to pay for what you provide will do so because they can thereby annoy me in interfaces where other spammers cannot. More practically beeper got blocked for this reason despite not even targeting commercial messaging.

I think they should probably ignore you and continue working on it seeing as they got accepted into YC.

YC seems a bit different from I remember it back in 2007 when I first joined. They're pushing things like "GStack" now.

https://youtu.be/wkv2ifxPpF8?si=OHXgW92T_aZUbwpA

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#103

Post by chatmasta »

landl0rd wrote: post #75

I think this is bad and antisocial and you should shut it down. I like imessage because businesses cannot easily use it. The people who are most willing to pay for what you provide will do so because they can thereby annoy me in interfaces where other spammers cannot. More practically beeper got blocked for this reason despite not even targeting commercial messaging.

iMessage has official business accounts. Although I’m not clear if that’s what this company is using.

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#104

Post by echelon »

bomewish wrote: post #84
echelon wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did the YC interviewers ask you about this risk? Did they ask you about a bigger market you can move into? There's no way this foothold will last. You're going to get massacred. Apple WILL ban you. You're not in some capricious walled garden. You're breaking and entering, and they'll destroy you. There is nothing of value to build here. You should take the rest of the day off, then tomorrow, pivot entirely. The folks…

Why would yc fund them given how obvious the risk is ? Esp since a Mac mini farm is capital intense.

This is a "Launch HN" / "YC P26" thread, so YC funded them.

If YC didn't fund this particular idea, they funded the team to pursue some earlier idea that the team then pivoted from to try this one.

In any case, the team needs to pivot. This idea is lighting cash (and time) on fire.

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#105

Post by mynameisvlad »

garygao wrote: post #56
dgellow wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you elaborate? What does that mean in practice? So far what I’ve seen from your service seems to be yet another attempt at blurring the distinction between bots and human interactions, which is generally used for spammy content

We're working to bridge the interaction between humans and bots so that automated conversations feel more natural and comfortable for the end user. In circumstances where the user can't reach an actual human (e.g. off hours support), they're often faced with bots over SMS/RCS that feel non-conversational and therefore can't support them in the right way due to interface. We're working on building agents that can more…

So… You’re trying to hide spam by making it seem like human interaction.

That doesn’t address the actual issue with these messages… which is that they’re still spam, regardless how you try and dress them up.

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#106

Post by paul7986 »

landl0rd wrote: post #75

I think this is bad and antisocial and you should shut it down. I like imessage because businesses cannot easily use it. The people who are most willing to pay for what you provide will do so because they can thereby annoy me in interfaces where other spammers cannot. More practically beeper got blocked for this reason despite not even targeting commercial messaging.

I agree this no bueno and anyone not in my contacts gets filtered out.

Why build a startup outside of making money from spamming community (mobsters) when its only annoys almost every human who receives spam calls, voicemails and texts? I mean even the founders and or those closest to them.. Im sure they love all the spam calls, voicemails (most recently being the annoying personal loan b.s.) and texts... right?

Im sure there's money to be made with spam outfits (mobsters) and more shaddy folks but again this isn't helping the issue that bugs almost every cellphone user out there. The government now is working on trying to fix this issue further, I bet there's more money there to be made in help fixing the issue then exborate it!

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#107

Post by ctoth »

parhamn wrote: post #89
ctoth wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if your core offering disappears you can do the same thing that every other SMS-sending thing can do? I also notice you answered the question, but not in the way anyone who needs to depend on this service would want to hear. So yeah you're doing the Mac Mini thing. I'm with landl0rd. This service should not exist, you should feel bad for creating it, and every time I get a spam iMessage I will think about you an…

> anyone who needs to depend on this service would want to hear Are you implying you'd be cool with it if it was Apple sanctioned? That's pretty silly.

First, that's pretty obviously not what I said. Two things can be true. This is bad, and also if I were evaluating it for use in my business, it is obviously not something I can rely on.

But then just ...Um yes? I trust Apple to keep a handle on their iMessage network. Citation: having used iMessage for ~15 years. This would mean things like ensuring that I didn't get spam. Ensuring actual company identity (does anyone remember Messages for Business?) &c. This is pretty obvious and I am trying to understand your comment?

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#108

Post by garygao »

chopete3 wrote: post #67

The ideas like this one are the rarest of the startup ideas you wish they don't become too successful as they are the target for exploitation by bad actors with ad dollars quickly. They won't be able to say no to the money.

We're clear on what we want to do and the future we are building towards, which is an agentic future where agents can better assist and interact with humans on a more emotional and personal level.

Re: Launch HN: Chert (YC P26) – Twilio for iMessage

#110

Post by trollbridge »

garygao wrote: post #101
trollbridge wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also can’t tell why these use cases can’t just use RCS.

SMS/RCS is better for some use cases (e.g. transactional messaging, promotions, or order updates) while iMessage is better for others (e.g. customer service). iMessage is better for these use cases because it feels more natural to the users texting the number

The only reason it feels more “natural” is because Apple prevents non-humans from being blue.

iMessage fully supports RCS.

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