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> If Whatsapp is replacing radio equipment in the trains and does a satisfactory job, then it should 100% become the official way to do it. WhatsApp is consum

> If Whatsapp is replacing radio equipment in the trains and does a satisfactory job, then it should 100% become the official way to do it. WhatsApp is consumer-grade software. Using it to manage a transport system is like using a $50 home-oriented manual espresso machine in a busy cafe instead of a proper commercial unit with automatic grinding, multiple nozzles, and a support agreement in place.

whywhywhydude 4y ago
When it comes to software, consumer grade software used and tested by a billion people is always going to be more reliable than some niche commercial grade software created by a contractor.
gernb 4y ago
That assessment doesn't fit the reputation of the software that runs in most government departments including public transportation departments
nebula8804 4y ago
It might be 'consumer-grade' but man is it well designed. I consider it one of my aspirations to write software as robust as Whatsapp. Sometimes I sit in my cube looking at my utter mess of an Angular app that I develop for a few thousand concurrent users and think, man how the hell am I ever going to get anywhere as close to as how good something like Whatsapp is. The reason its so good is how it handles edge cases. it brilliantly handles edge cases like when connection is extremely spotty. In 2015 when I was backpacking around Europe I learned this the hard way when iMessage repeatedly hit issues where it would get stuck transmitting mid message and would require drastic things like rebooting the iPhone (because that damn status bar gets stuck and then you have no recourse) whereas no matter how slow/spotty the connection (like 64kb/s or slower), Whatsapp would patiently work and reliably get the transmission through eventually. In hindsight, I am thankful Zuckerberg had the sense to acquire them. He has so far done a lot less to destroy it than I expected. Can you imagine if they got acquired by some garbage dump of a company like Oracle, or Salesforce, or (shudders) Google? Just think of all the ways they would have ruined it.
- selfhoster11 4y ago
  Yeah, I'm actually surprised about the lack of destruction too. May it long continue, since I'm not looking forward to migrating my family to a different messenger app.
konschubert 4y ago
WhatsApp is incredibly reliable.
- selfhoster11 4y ago
  Except for the times that it goes down globally, yes.
rtontic 4y ago
You should see russian pilots in Ukraine using consumer-grade GPS devices for navigation then.
- selfhoster11 4y ago
  Russian military's equipment in Ukraine is legendarily bad. The comparison should really be against what the American army uses for GPS.

whywhywhydude 4y ago

When it comes to software, consumer grade software used and tested by a billion people is always going to be more reliable than some niche commercial grade software created by a contractor.

gernb 4y ago

That assessment doesn't fit the reputation of the software that runs in most government departments including public transportation departments

nebula8804 4y ago

It might be 'consumer-grade' but man is it well designed. I consider it one of my aspirations to write software as robust as Whatsapp. Sometimes I sit in my cube looking at my utter mess of an Angular app that I develop for a few thousand concurrent users and think, man how the hell am I ever going to get anywhere as close to as how good something like Whatsapp is. The reason its so good is how it handles edge cases. it brilliantly handles edge cases like when connection is extremely spotty. In 2015 when I was backpacking around Europe I learned this the hard way when iMessage repeatedly hit issues where it would get stuck transmitting mid message and would require drastic things like rebooting the iPhone (because that damn status bar gets stuck and then you have no recourse) whereas no matter how slow/spotty the connection (like 64kb/s or slower), Whatsapp would patiently work and reliably get the transmission through eventually. In hindsight, I am thankful Zuckerberg had the sense to acquire them. He has so far done a lot less to destroy it than I expected. Can you imagine if they got acquired by some garbage dump of a company like Oracle, or Salesforce, or (shudders) Google? Just think of all the ways they would have ruined it.

selfhoster11 4y ago
Yeah, I'm actually surprised about the lack of destruction too. May it long continue, since I'm not looking forward to migrating my family to a different messenger app.

konschubert 4y ago

WhatsApp is incredibly reliable.

selfhoster11 4y ago
Except for the times that it goes down globally, yes.

rtontic 4y ago

You should see russian pilots in Ukraine using consumer-grade GPS devices for navigation then.

selfhoster11 4y ago
Russian military's equipment in Ukraine is legendarily bad. The comparison should really be against what the American army uses for GPS.