7 ms·

The US market standardized on mobile plans with unlimited texting a long, long time ago, so I think this caused people to mostly stick to SMS/MMS for communicat

The US market standardized on mobile plans with unlimited texting a long, long time ago, so I think this caused people to mostly stick to SMS/MMS for communication since it was the path of least resistance. I don't know what the situation in Europe is like now, but in the past I remember it being difficult to find plans without very small SMS caps when traveling. That could be why Europeans naturally gravitated towards other messaging platforms.

angio 4y ago
Unlimited SMS plans have been a thing in western europe for the past 15 years, at least. People switched to whatsapp because you can send pictures, not only text.
- tedmiston 4y ago
  Do unlimited SMS plans in Europe in general include unlimited MMS too? That's how it's worked in the U.S. for a very long time.
- Spivak 4y ago
  MMS existed long before phones that had chat apps.
  - Tsiklon 4y ago
    MMS was (is?) spectacularly expensive, I recall sending an MMS and it costing in the realm of £1.50 -> £2.00 per message, furthermore there was a maximum size to the attachment you could send with it (100k-200k?). These two alone made it a non-starter. Sure it was exciting at first when the first 3G colour display phones with cameras were a thing, but the cost and size limits were prohibitive when proper smartphones came on the scene.
    - mlyle 4y ago
      Yah, MMS is part of "unlimited text" in the US-- albeit the quality is garbage (1MB).
  - marticode 4y ago
    I remember MMS being both expensive but also often broken as each user had to set up a bunch of APN in his phone. And the image quality was crap. I'm amazed it's still a thing in some port of the world.
- trevcanhuman 4y ago
  Also in Latin America. Even though we have nice 4G text messages do take a while to get through, even if my speed test is high! TelCos just prefer to use the Internet. And I agree.
- gwilly 4y ago
  The percentage of WhatsApp users across countries: https://imgur.com/0Jz527h https://imgur.com/0Jz527h It clearly shows that people in Europe, South America and Africa are huge users of WhatsApp and only 18% use it in the US.
- hot_gril 4y ago
  When people in America want to send pictures without both ends having iMessage, they either use MMS (aka "text it to me") or share them some other way.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
KaiserPro 4y ago
I still don't understand how SMS took off in the US. for a long time you had to pay to receive texts, which is madness. given that undercurrent of expense, I'm still not sure why the US hasn't moved to whatsapp/signal/other. The only thing I can think of is that mobile data is even more expensive.
- oneplane 4y ago
  If I'm not mistaken, a lot happens on Facebook in the US, including instant messaging.
- hot_gril 4y ago
  When you had to pay to receive SMS, WhatsApp didn't exist. Your only other options were more cumbersome things like email and AIM, which still required paying for a phone internet plan and having a capable phone.
elondaits 4y ago
In Argentina WhatsApp became the de-facto standard definitely because it was “free” messaging compared to the expensive SMS. The carriers ruined it for all of us.

angio 4y ago

Unlimited SMS plans have been a thing in western europe for the past 15 years, at least. People switched to whatsapp because you can send pictures, not only text.

tedmiston 4y ago
Do unlimited SMS plans in Europe in general include unlimited MMS too? That's how it's worked in the U.S. for a very long time.
Spivak 4y ago
MMS existed long before phones that had chat apps.
- Tsiklon 4y ago
  MMS was (is?) spectacularly expensive, I recall sending an MMS and it costing in the realm of £1.50 -> £2.00 per message, furthermore there was a maximum size to the attachment you could send with it (100k-200k?). These two alone made it a non-starter. Sure it was exciting at first when the first 3G colour display phones with cameras were a thing, but the cost and size limits were prohibitive when proper smartphones came on the scene.
  - mlyle 4y ago
    Yah, MMS is part of "unlimited text" in the US-- albeit the quality is garbage (1MB).
- marticode 4y ago
  I remember MMS being both expensive but also often broken as each user had to set up a bunch of APN in his phone. And the image quality was crap. I'm amazed it's still a thing in some port of the world.
trevcanhuman 4y ago
Also in Latin America. Even though we have nice 4G text messages do take a while to get through, even if my speed test is high! TelCos just prefer to use the Internet. And I agree.
gwilly 4y ago
The percentage of WhatsApp users across countries: https://imgur.com/0Jz527h https://imgur.com/0Jz527h It clearly shows that people in Europe, South America and Africa are huge users of WhatsApp and only 18% use it in the US.
hot_gril 4y ago
When people in America want to send pictures without both ends having iMessage, they either use MMS (aka "text it to me") or share them some other way.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

KaiserPro 4y ago

I still don't understand how SMS took off in the US. for a long time you had to pay to receive texts, which is madness. given that undercurrent of expense, I'm still not sure why the US hasn't moved to whatsapp/signal/other. The only thing I can think of is that mobile data is even more expensive.

oneplane 4y ago
If I'm not mistaken, a lot happens on Facebook in the US, including instant messaging.
hot_gril 4y ago
When you had to pay to receive SMS, WhatsApp didn't exist. Your only other options were more cumbersome things like email and AIM, which still required paying for a phone internet plan and having a capable phone.

elondaits 4y ago

In Argentina WhatsApp became the de-facto standard definitely because it was “free” messaging compared to the expensive SMS. The carriers ruined it for all of us.