3 ms·

WhatsApp is 100% needed in countries like mine (Argentina). COVID-19 vaccine appointments came via WhatsApp in Buenos Aires, most people require it for professi

WhatsApp is 100% needed in countries like mine (Argentina). COVID-19 vaccine appointments came via WhatsApp in Buenos Aires, most people require it for professional reasons, school parent groups and similar happen in WhatsApp, social life requires WhatsApp. Now iOS or Android are interchangeable… nothing demands having one or the other.

mariusor 4y ago
> nothing demands having one or the other That's equally bad though. What happens to people that don't use either?
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  It's safe to assume that, even in developing nations, everyone has a cheap beat-down Android or iPhone. Having a smartphone has become as ubiquitous as having electricity or running water now that nobody questions living without one. It's pretty much a must have. That's why the Apple/Google platform are starting to attract regulators, which is only a good thing.
  - mariusor 4y ago
    No I don't think that's safe to assume.
    - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
      The reality kind of contradicts you. Sure, there are people living without smartphones, the same way how there are people living without electricity or running water. The thing is, in the developing world, smartphones and the various apps have really improved people's lives, mostly by getting ahead in speed and innovation of what the governments, public services and local companies could offer the traditional way. So it's not like everyone is forced to get a smartphone, but everyone got a smartphone because it now allowed everyone to communicate better, organize better, and sell their services/goods easier.
      - mariusor 4y ago
        What you are showing here is a very severe lack of empathy in my opinion. The fact (which you seem to recognize) is that there are people that do not have mobile phones. You are also right that mobile apps make it easier for people that do have them to do all of those things. However the problem appears when it's so convenient to have a phone that when making decisions about how to provide access to things they think of only two options: Android or iOS. I have none and I don't like being a third class citizen when I want to connect to my bank, to my COVID appointment or, god forbid, interact with the government machine.
        ChuckNorris89 4y ago
        >What you are showing here is a very severe lack of empathy in my opinion Where did I do that? I wasn't saying that smartphones should be the norm for everything , I was jusy saying how society usually sees smartphone ownership as a necessity in certain countries because they reduce the friction for many communication and organization task that would otherwise be much more difficult. I wasn't saying that's how I want it to be or that this is a good thing, I'm saying how things are in the real world and in which direction they are going. Like for example in my country, parent-teacher communication regarding school and child matters is done via WhatsApp/Telegram. Is that good? No, obviously not. Ideally we'd have an internal school chat/meesaging system with logins for parents and teachers like how proably things are in Scandinavian countries I imagine. But since my country is poor and schools could never afford to pay market rate devs and sys-admins to implement and maintain such communication systems, the likes of Telegram and WhatsApp took over this role because they're free, convenient, frictionless and since "everyone already has a smartphone" they already know how to use these apps. So there you go, that's how the likes of WahtsApp have such a huge market share in the lives of all people and businesses, especially in developing countries. >I don't like being a third class citizen when I want to connect to my bank, to my COVID appointment or, god forbid, interact with the government machine. I'd be curious where this is the case. There are enough "old-school" banks where you don't need a smartphone, and stuff like government interactions are usually regulated so that they can be accessible for people without smartphones and also for people with disabilities. Even in developing countries. Digitization of government serivices has been implemented to make things more efficient and reduce the need for paperwork, commuting and waiting in lines, not to completely replace the old systems.
- white_dragon88 4y ago
  [dead]

mariusor 4y ago

> nothing demands having one or the other That's equally bad though. What happens to people that don't use either?

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
It's safe to assume that, even in developing nations, everyone has a cheap beat-down Android or iPhone. Having a smartphone has become as ubiquitous as having electricity or running water now that nobody questions living without one. It's pretty much a must have. That's why the Apple/Google platform are starting to attract regulators, which is only a good thing.
- mariusor 4y ago
  No I don't think that's safe to assume.
  - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
    The reality kind of contradicts you. Sure, there are people living without smartphones, the same way how there are people living without electricity or running water. The thing is, in the developing world, smartphones and the various apps have really improved people's lives, mostly by getting ahead in speed and innovation of what the governments, public services and local companies could offer the traditional way. So it's not like everyone is forced to get a smartphone, but everyone got a smartphone because it now allowed everyone to communicate better, organize better, and sell their services/goods easier.
    - mariusor 4y ago
      What you are showing here is a very severe lack of empathy in my opinion. The fact (which you seem to recognize) is that there are people that do not have mobile phones. You are also right that mobile apps make it easier for people that do have them to do all of those things. However the problem appears when it's so convenient to have a phone that when making decisions about how to provide access to things they think of only two options: Android or iOS. I have none and I don't like being a third class citizen when I want to connect to my bank, to my COVID appointment or, god forbid, interact with the government machine.
      - ChuckNorris89 4y ago
        >What you are showing here is a very severe lack of empathy in my opinion Where did I do that? I wasn't saying that smartphones should be the norm for everything , I was jusy saying how society usually sees smartphone ownership as a necessity in certain countries because they reduce the friction for many communication and organization task that would otherwise be much more difficult. I wasn't saying that's how I want it to be or that this is a good thing, I'm saying how things are in the real world and in which direction they are going. Like for example in my country, parent-teacher communication regarding school and child matters is done via WhatsApp/Telegram. Is that good? No, obviously not. Ideally we'd have an internal school chat/meesaging system with logins for parents and teachers like how proably things are in Scandinavian countries I imagine. But since my country is poor and schools could never afford to pay market rate devs and sys-admins to implement and maintain such communication systems, the likes of Telegram and WhatsApp took over this role because they're free, convenient, frictionless and since "everyone already has a smartphone" they already know how to use these apps. So there you go, that's how the likes of WahtsApp have such a huge market share in the lives of all people and businesses, especially in developing countries. >I don't like being a third class citizen when I want to connect to my bank, to my COVID appointment or, god forbid, interact with the government machine. I'd be curious where this is the case. There are enough "old-school" banks where you don't need a smartphone, and stuff like government interactions are usually regulated so that they can be accessible for people without smartphones and also for people with disabilities. Even in developing countries. Digitization of government serivices has been implemented to make things more efficient and reduce the need for paperwork, commuting and waiting in lines, not to completely replace the old systems.
white_dragon88 4y ago
[dead]