US bans WeChat, TikTok from app stores, threatens shutdowns

Post by codyb » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:27 AM UTC

castratikron wrote: post #263

filoleg wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and if I ban you from using postal services, you can just rely on using pigeon carriers for mail. If what I said sounds ridiculous, that's exactly how your email proposition sounds to people who are used to WeChat. We can argue semantics and details, like "but it isn't the same, because this and that, etc.". But, at the end of the day, if email was even close to being as convenient as WeChat for the purposes th…

It just seems strange that there's only one option available. In the US there are so many options that I find myself using an app just to talk to a specific friend, e.g. to talk to John, I'll use Twitter DMs, but I'll use Facebook to talk to Mike. Maybe this is a lesson to not consolidate literally every function of daily life into one superapp?

Post by matthewdgreen » Sun, Sep 20, 2020, 4:26 PM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #285

matthewdgreen wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Translated to a more familiar medium, the analogy would be: “bookstores can no longer sell that title, but that’s ok because people who already own a copy can still read it.” I’m not a constitutional scholar, but this seems like a pretty weak counterargument to me.

I agree with your analogy, and I agree that this is a terrible move. But for the demographic mentioned ("this order prevents millions of Americans from using their primary (and oftentimes only) method to communicate with family in China"), I find it vanishingly unlikely that any of them doesn't already have wechat. The order has essentially zero immediate effects on them.

Post by filoleg » Mon, Sep 21, 2020, 7:35 PM UTC

castratikron wrote: post #263

filoleg wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and if I ban you from using postal services, you can just rely on using pigeon carriers for mail. If what I said sounds ridiculous, that's exactly how your email proposition sounds to people who are used to WeChat. We can argue semantics and details, like "but it isn't the same, because this and that, etc.". But, at the end of the day, if email was even close to being as convenient as WeChat for the purposes th…

It just seems strange that there's only one option available. In the US there are so many options that I find myself using an app just to talk to a specific friend, e.g. to talk to John, I'll use Twitter DMs, but I'll use Facebook to talk to Mike. Maybe this is a lesson to not consolidate literally every function of daily life into one superapp?