5 ms·

It would take more than that. SMS delivery delays can be long, MMS is quirky and unreliable, and support for group messaging is bolted on at best and varies wid

It would take more than that. SMS delivery delays can be long, MMS is quirky and unreliable, and support for group messaging is bolted on at best and varies widely between carriers and handsets. Mobile chat apps are popular not only because of price but because they offer better UI and more reliable infrastructure than texting.

MichaelBurge 11y ago
I feel like these are solvable problems. Even if SMS isn't the right solution, it's clearly already technically possible to send text between phones in an efficient manner using the existing cell phone infrastructure. I could see some low-ranking Google engineer pushing out an update to the default chat app on my $50 Android that allows it to either use SMS or a Google-operated HTTP endpoint, without realizing that he accidentally caused tens of billions of dollars in chat app valuations to evaporate overnight, since the default app is now good enough for most people.
digi_owl 11y ago
Best i can tell, group MMS is something Apple drummed up that has no formal spec. Anyways, the reason why these chat systems can be more reliable is that they do not have to deal with crossing network boundaries. If you send and SMS or MMS, it may have to be handed between carrier networks. With a Whatsapp message, stays within their server farm.
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  Well, obviously, if I send a whatsapp message over my cell data connection and someone else receives it over their data connection, the message had to be handed between carrier networks (with the internet intermediating). Why is being intermediated by Whatsapp different from being intermediated by AT&T directly?
  - Atheros 11y ago
    AT&T is a lossy network and Whatsapp is designed to operate well over a lossy network. MMS is not.
    - thaumasiotes 11y ago
      Why is this not a problem for AT&T-cell-to-AT&T-cell messages?
  - digi_owl 11y ago
    SMS and MMS is handled in a store and forward fashion, much like email. So if the connection between carriers are down, or saturated, or a million other reasons, it will stall for the duration. And the delivery can only happen over carrier mobile networks. Whatsapp on the other hand can deliver as long as there is some kind of net connection present (wifi, cell, even USB to a PC with ethernet may work in a pinch).

MichaelBurge 11y ago

I feel like these are solvable problems. Even if SMS isn't the right solution, it's clearly already technically possible to send text between phones in an efficient manner using the existing cell phone infrastructure. I could see some low-ranking Google engineer pushing out an update to the default chat app on my $50 Android that allows it to either use SMS or a Google-operated HTTP endpoint, without realizing that he accidentally caused tens of billions of dollars in chat app valuations to evaporate overnight, since the default app is now good enough for most people.

digi_owl 11y ago

Best i can tell, group MMS is something Apple drummed up that has no formal spec. Anyways, the reason why these chat systems can be more reliable is that they do not have to deal with crossing network boundaries. If you send and SMS or MMS, it may have to be handed between carrier networks. With a Whatsapp message, stays within their server farm.

thaumasiotes 11y ago
Well, obviously, if I send a whatsapp message over my cell data connection and someone else receives it over their data connection, the message had to be handed between carrier networks (with the internet intermediating). Why is being intermediated by Whatsapp different from being intermediated by AT&T directly?
- Atheros 11y ago
  AT&T is a lossy network and Whatsapp is designed to operate well over a lossy network. MMS is not.
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    Why is this not a problem for AT&T-cell-to-AT&T-cell messages?
- digi_owl 11y ago
  SMS and MMS is handled in a store and forward fashion, much like email. So if the connection between carriers are down, or saturated, or a million other reasons, it will stall for the duration. And the delivery can only happen over carrier mobile networks. Whatsapp on the other hand can deliver as long as there is some kind of net connection present (wifi, cell, even USB to a PC with ethernet may work in a pinch).