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> You should consider that WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are the primary communication method for large parts of the globe. I wish regulators would have thou

> You should consider that WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are the primary communication method for large parts of the globe. I wish regulators would have though that before allowing the purchase of WhatsApp by Facebook. That both of the main messaging apps are down at the same time is worrisome.

6510 5y ago
sms
- touristtam 5y ago
  You do know why a lot of people moved away from SMS? hint: https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/141867-price-gouging-it-costs-more-to-send-a-text-message-on-earth-than-from-mars https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/141867-price-gouging-it-c...
  - ghaff 5y ago
    That article is from 2012. Admittedly a lot of people moved off for the pricing reasons but essentially everyone I communicate with in the US uses SMS/iMessage today.
    - 1_player 5y ago
      Well, the world is a bit bigger than the US. Everywhere, apart from the US and a few other (East Asian?) countries, WhatsApp usage is widespread.
    - dividedbyzero 5y ago
      That seems to be a US-specific oddity. My German mobile plan still charges per SMS (a few cents per message), and apart from verification codes or delivery notices, I never receive any SMS at all. No one uses them for personal communication over here, to the point where people don't know how to send them and I wouldn't know of another country apart from the US where SMS are still widely used.
      - progval 5y ago
        I'm French and SMS are ubiquitous here; sometimes even more so than email. All operators offer unlimited free SMS, even the cheapest 2€/month subscriptions. I'm not sure I personally know anyone who uses WhatsApp. SMS used to be priced like you describe until a new operator (aptly named "Free") entered the market in 2012 with free SMS plans and forced the other three operators to align.
        paganel 5y ago
        Whatsapp is (and especially was) way better at sending photos than whatever SMS app installed on one's phone. It also used to work with crappier phones, for which there was no easy way (that I know of) of installing a SMS app that would send photos. Plus, you have Whatsapp private groups, which I don't know if you can emulate using SMS.
        6510 5y ago
        Almost all plans offer free sms in the Netherlands.
    - officeplant 5y ago
      Which sucks because SMS is an increasing attack vector in current times and iMessage had a fun pile of zero days this year. Also US based here luckily everyone I talk to is spread across signal/telegram/discord/googlechat for the most part.
      - ghaff 5y ago
        I use Gchat at work as essentially an adjunct to Gmail. I don't even have any of the other apps installed. I do use Facebook Messenger for one good friend who lives in Europe. But, in general TBH, I don't use texting all that much day to day.
- MarcelOlsz 5y ago
  Brilliant, why hadn't I thought of this?
  - 6510 5y ago
    haha, well at least we didn't fail back on nothing.
- jkestner 5y ago
  Maybe now’s not the best time. https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xpm8/company-that-routes-billions-of-text-messages-quietly-says-it-was-hacked https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xpm8/company-that-routes-b...

6510 5y ago

sms

touristtam 5y ago
You do know why a lot of people moved away from SMS? hint: https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/141867-price-gouging-it-costs-more-to-send-a-text-message-on-earth-than-from-mars https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/141867-price-gouging-it-c...
- ghaff 5y ago
  That article is from 2012. Admittedly a lot of people moved off for the pricing reasons but essentially everyone I communicate with in the US uses SMS/iMessage today.
  - 1_player 5y ago
    Well, the world is a bit bigger than the US. Everywhere, apart from the US and a few other (East Asian?) countries, WhatsApp usage is widespread.
  - dividedbyzero 5y ago
    That seems to be a US-specific oddity. My German mobile plan still charges per SMS (a few cents per message), and apart from verification codes or delivery notices, I never receive any SMS at all. No one uses them for personal communication over here, to the point where people don't know how to send them and I wouldn't know of another country apart from the US where SMS are still widely used.
    - progval 5y ago
      I'm French and SMS are ubiquitous here; sometimes even more so than email. All operators offer unlimited free SMS, even the cheapest 2€/month subscriptions. I'm not sure I personally know anyone who uses WhatsApp. SMS used to be priced like you describe until a new operator (aptly named "Free") entered the market in 2012 with free SMS plans and forced the other three operators to align.
      - paganel 5y ago
        Whatsapp is (and especially was) way better at sending photos than whatever SMS app installed on one's phone. It also used to work with crappier phones, for which there was no easy way (that I know of) of installing a SMS app that would send photos. Plus, you have Whatsapp private groups, which I don't know if you can emulate using SMS.
      - 6510 5y ago
        Almost all plans offer free sms in the Netherlands.
  - officeplant 5y ago
    Which sucks because SMS is an increasing attack vector in current times and iMessage had a fun pile of zero days this year. Also US based here luckily everyone I talk to is spread across signal/telegram/discord/googlechat for the most part.
    - ghaff 5y ago
      I use Gchat at work as essentially an adjunct to Gmail. I don't even have any of the other apps installed. I do use Facebook Messenger for one good friend who lives in Europe. But, in general TBH, I don't use texting all that much day to day.
MarcelOlsz 5y ago
Brilliant, why hadn't I thought of this?
- 6510 5y ago
  haha, well at least we didn't fail back on nothing.
jkestner 5y ago
Maybe now’s not the best time. https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xpm8/company-that-routes-billions-of-text-messages-quietly-says-it-was-hacked https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3xpm8/company-that-routes-b...