4 ms·

Hang on, if the person you're chatting with doesn't need to install deltachat, isn't this just... Email?

• fxj 8y ago
  In principle instant messaging is just email with a dumbed down interface.
  • fredley 8y ago
    In principle, email is just exchanging TCP packets with a dumbed down interface.
    • miguelmota 8y ago
      In principle, TCP packets are just bits with a dumbed down interface.
      • syfluqs 8y ago
        In principle, bits are just voltage levels with a dumbed down interface
        • chrisshroba 8y ago
          https://xkcd.com/435/ https://xkcd.com/435/
          • bigbadgoose 8y ago
            Ha! From another article currently on front page: > "Arkani-Hamed now sees the ultimate goal of physics as figuring out the mathematical question from which all the answers flow." (https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/a-different-kind-of-theory-of-everything https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/a-different-kind-...)
        • grawprog 8y ago
          In principle voltage levels are just a measurement of electron flow with a dumbed down interface.
          • grifball 8y ago
            oh god, please don't turn HN into reddit
            • nvr219 8y ago
              oopsie
    • fxj 8y ago
      But email relies on free and open source standards while instant messaging is a walled garden that relies on closed protocols by some shady corporations that sell your data.
      • Spivak 8y ago
        Compared to... a walled garden that relies on secret algorithms written by shady corporations that sell your data.
      • gregknicholson 8y ago
        XMPP and Matrix (and arguably ActivityPub) are open specifications for IM, each with multiple interoperable implementations. (I'm counting mxhsd as a 2nd implementation of a Matrix server; I accept that it isn't mature yet.)