10 ms·

https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/ Relevant xkcd.

icebraining 8y ago
Not really; the proliferation has been due to proprietary protocols, not due to efforts to create standard unifying ones.
- bb88 8y ago
  To be honest, in the fine print in of that XKCD it says "See: ..., instant messaging".
eloisant 8y ago
I'm a bit tired of people pulling out this comic each time a new standard appears. Whatsapp, Telegram, FB, iMessages are NOT standards. They're closed systems controlled by a single company. XMPP is a standard from the days of ICQ, AIM, MSN, etc. Unfortunately it failed. SMS is a standard for mobile phone text communications. It's too limited now. RCS is the evolution of SMS. I don't think RCS is a redundant standard, it's a necessary evolution of SMS. It's a standard for a decentralized system. I know Americans hate their carriers to the point they'd rather have everyone's data in a single SV company, but the solution is to fix your carriers. Not to give all your data to a company (Facebook) that had been proved to be less than trustable about it.
- bb88 8y ago
  > Whatsapp, Telegram, FB, iMessages are NOT standards. They're closed systems controlled by a single company. That's what the term "Defacto Standard" is for.
  - majewsky 8y ago
    Not really. A de-facto standard is when multiple implementations from multiple parties agree on some behavior without it being described in a formal specification. Whatsapp does not have multiple implementations from multiple parties.
- stephenr 8y ago
  Xmpp didn’t fail - the major companies who all built their messaging platforms on it just turned off federation. RCS is still focussed on phones only, so it’s a non starter IMO. But it’s driven by the same companies that charge the equivalent of $1000+/mb for sms delivery, so it’s unsurprising that customer needs are not really their first priority.
- ralphm 8y ago
  RCS is a standard on which development started in 2008 and was built upon the core of another standard called IMS, which started development in 1999. The same year the jabber.org project was announced.

Not really; the proliferation has been due to proprietary protocols, not due to efforts to create standard unifying ones.

bb88 8y ago
To be honest, in the fine print in of that XKCD it says "See: ..., instant messaging".

eloisant 8y ago

I'm a bit tired of people pulling out this comic each time a new standard appears. Whatsapp, Telegram, FB, iMessages are NOT standards. They're closed systems controlled by a single company. XMPP is a standard from the days of ICQ, AIM, MSN, etc. Unfortunately it failed. SMS is a standard for mobile phone text communications. It's too limited now. RCS is the evolution of SMS. I don't think RCS is a redundant standard, it's a necessary evolution of SMS. It's a standard for a decentralized system. I know Americans hate their carriers to the point they'd rather have everyone's data in a single SV company, but the solution is to fix your carriers. Not to give all your data to a company (Facebook) that had been proved to be less than trustable about it.

bb88 8y ago
> Whatsapp, Telegram, FB, iMessages are NOT standards. They're closed systems controlled by a single company. That's what the term "Defacto Standard" is for.
- majewsky 8y ago
  Not really. A de-facto standard is when multiple implementations from multiple parties agree on some behavior without it being described in a formal specification. Whatsapp does not have multiple implementations from multiple parties.
stephenr 8y ago
Xmpp didn’t fail - the major companies who all built their messaging platforms on it just turned off federation. RCS is still focussed on phones only, so it’s a non starter IMO. But it’s driven by the same companies that charge the equivalent of $1000+/mb for sms delivery, so it’s unsurprising that customer needs are not really their first priority.
ralphm 8y ago
RCS is a standard on which development started in 2008 and was built upon the core of another standard called IMS, which started development in 1999. The same year the jabber.org project was announced.