3 ms·

maps exist, you must have missed that... as for whatsapp, I have never used it once, and yet my phone provides "real use" (whatever that means).

ubermonkey 4mo ago
Try to understand that the person you're replying to clearly has different needs than you do.
- card_zero 4mo ago
  That person might have a narrow, blinkered view, in which maps on a phone are essential, unable to understand that other people don't care.
  - ubermonkey 4mo ago
    The more obvious lack of understanding is yours w/r/t the scope of what they wrote.
- SirFatty 4mo ago
  re-read my comment.. you're confused about what my response means apparently.
dwb 4mo ago
You are not a representative user, at least in a country where WhatsApp is dominant.
- SirFatty 4mo ago
  I guess you only saw whatsapp in my comment and missed the rest of it.
  - dwb 4mo ago
    Only? It was half your comment. The point is that the amount of "real use" (I think we can all guess at a good-enough definition) of a phone without WhatsApp in a country where it's pervasive is not enough for most people. And what do you mean by "maps exist"? Paper maps?
alexgieg 4mo ago
Many countries don't use SMS, they use WhatsApp, for almost everything, from chatting with family and friends, to business contacts, to talking with your bank manager, to medical appointments, to 2FA, and even to transfer money. That's what prevents most people on those countries from having a dumb phone, and forces even the most illiterate of 90yo great-grandmothers to learn how to navigate around Android or iOS, all the while placing uncountable many calls to their great-grandchildren because they opened up some random app by accident and don't remember how to get back to the only thing that matters: WhatsApp (talking from experience here). A WhatsApp-capable quasi-dumb-phone would be a godsend for such places, provided it's cheap enough. At $500 this one definitely isn't, not when an ultra-cheap Android smartphone capable of running WhatsApp costs $90. But if this one sells well, cheaper ones may become viable down the line due to economies of scale. I surely hope that happens.
- mingus88 4mo ago
  As long as Meta owns WhatsApp, don’t hold your breath. They operate the service to get your personal data into the hands of their customers (advertisers) so why would they support a dumb client that is designed to be incompatible with their business model
  - renaudg 4mo ago
    WhatsApp messages are end to end encrypted. It doesn't have the same business model as the rest of Meta (which by the way, is to get advertisers products in front of users eyeballs, optimized by their personal data. Not to hand said personal data over to advertisers or anybody else, which would be a bit dumb as it's Meta's crown jewels)
trollbridge 4mo ago
"Someone who has never used WhatsApp" is also known as "an American".

ubermonkey 4mo ago

Try to understand that the person you're replying to clearly has different needs than you do.

card_zero 4mo ago
That person might have a narrow, blinkered view, in which maps on a phone are essential, unable to understand that other people don't care.
- ubermonkey 4mo ago
  The more obvious lack of understanding is yours w/r/t the scope of what they wrote.
SirFatty 4mo ago
re-read my comment.. you're confused about what my response means apparently.

dwb 4mo ago

You are not a representative user, at least in a country where WhatsApp is dominant.

SirFatty 4mo ago
I guess you only saw whatsapp in my comment and missed the rest of it.
- dwb 4mo ago
  Only? It was half your comment. The point is that the amount of "real use" (I think we can all guess at a good-enough definition) of a phone without WhatsApp in a country where it's pervasive is not enough for most people. And what do you mean by "maps exist"? Paper maps?

alexgieg 4mo ago

Many countries don't use SMS, they use WhatsApp, for almost everything, from chatting with family and friends, to business contacts, to talking with your bank manager, to medical appointments, to 2FA, and even to transfer money. That's what prevents most people on those countries from having a dumb phone, and forces even the most illiterate of 90yo great-grandmothers to learn how to navigate around Android or iOS, all the while placing uncountable many calls to their great-grandchildren because they opened up some random app by accident and don't remember how to get back to the only thing that matters: WhatsApp (talking from experience here). A WhatsApp-capable quasi-dumb-phone would be a godsend for such places, provided it's cheap enough. At $500 this one definitely isn't, not when an ultra-cheap Android smartphone capable of running WhatsApp costs $90. But if this one sells well, cheaper ones may become viable down the line due to economies of scale. I surely hope that happens.

mingus88 4mo ago
As long as Meta owns WhatsApp, don’t hold your breath. They operate the service to get your personal data into the hands of their customers (advertisers) so why would they support a dumb client that is designed to be incompatible with their business model
- renaudg 4mo ago
  WhatsApp messages are end to end encrypted. It doesn't have the same business model as the rest of Meta (which by the way, is to get advertisers products in front of users eyeballs, optimized by their personal data. Not to hand said personal data over to advertisers or anybody else, which would be a bit dumb as it's Meta's crown jewels)

trollbridge 4mo ago

"Someone who has never used WhatsApp" is also known as "an American".