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Obligatory calling out of blogspam and linking to the original article: http://allthingsd.com/20130408/whatsapp-were-not-selling-to-google/ http://allthingsd.co

by mhaymo 14y ago

Obligatory calling out of blogspam and linking to the original article: http://allthingsd.com/20130408/whatsapp-were-not-selling-to-google/ http://allthingsd.com/20130408/whatsapp-were-not-selling-to-... It never really made sense to me that Google would buy WhatsApp. What do they have that Google can't build themselves? An established userbase, sure, but any messaging app included by default in Android will have users migrating in droves.

morsch 14y ago
Doesn't Google Talk qualify as the messaging app included by default? Not sure I see the droves of WhatsApp users migrating to that, sadly.
- trailfox 14y ago
  Why would anyone want to use gtalk over whatsapp? Unlike GTalk whatsapp doesn't store and data mine my conversations for targeted advertising. Source: http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/21864047 http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/21864047 "We do not store your chat history on our servers. Chat messages are considered private and are only stored until they are delivered."
  - jxi 14y ago
    Uh.. you gonna back that up with some proof or reasoning? Or are you just trying to spread FUD? What's your gripe with data mining anyway, and you can always use OTR.
- micampe 14y ago
  Sadly? Not for me. Here is one big reason I prefer services like WhatsApp (I don’t actually use WhatsApp itself): I do not want the presence reporting. I want to send a message to people and they read and respond whenever they want. I want people to message me and I read and respond whenever I want. I don’t want to deal with ping, hey, you are online why are you not responding. This is why half my Gtalk contacts are always “away” even if they are at the keyboard: presence status has become useless, let’s just get rid of it.
  - derefr 14y ago
    Tracking "presence" makes sense when the program implementing it is running on a computer sitting on a desk, and then you sometimes walk away from that desk. Presence makes almost no sense when the program implementing it resides on a phone, where any time someone sends you a message--even if the application isn't running--you'll know (because your pants just buzzed), and could very well react to it if you felt like it. You're always "present"; you're just sometimes purposefully non-responsive. ...now, on the other hand, "openness to being interrupted" status could be pretty useful. :)
    - micampe 14y ago
      Half my contacts are always away, and have been for years. I think what you want should be a setting in my machine (whether phone or computer): silence all notifications when I don’t want to be interrupted (I use iOS “Do Not Disturb” all the time).
  - Uchikoma 14y ago
    Very enlightening thought for mobile.
- mhaymo 14y ago
  As far as I can tell it's not available at all in the UK, I had no idea it was included by default on some phones.
mandeepj 14y ago
"What do they have that Google can't build themselves?" Your argument contradicts every acquisition\acquihires made by google so far
- pmelendez 14y ago
  Exactly... YouTube comes to my mind by instance.
  - mhaymo 14y ago
    Except Google only acquired Youtube after Google Video failed to attract its users away.
niggler 14y ago
In your estimation, how frequently is venturebeat blogspam? Is it at the same level as forbes.com?
- mhaymo 14y ago
  I have no idea, I just noticed that this particular article added very little to the source. It's possible I'm misusing the term?
  - niggler 14y ago
    Some sites like forbes.com are notorious for blogspam. I don't have too much familiarity, but all of the venturebeat posts that I have seen were indeed blogspam. I wanted to know if I was the only one who felt that :)
somesay 14y ago
Actually, WhatsApp service that targets Android and iOS. And they made adding contacts super easy. No ICQ number, no XMPP handle, no username. iMessage is Apple-only, Google Talk has a slightly different concept and more complicated. any messaging app included by default in Android will have users migrating in droves Yeah, that's why Google+ replaced Facebook and everyone is using Google Talk. Nearly every browser comes with Google as search engine or homepage and it didn't worked.

by mhaymo 14y ago

morsch 14y ago

Doesn't Google Talk qualify as the messaging app included by default? Not sure I see the droves of WhatsApp users migrating to that, sadly.

trailfox 14y ago
Why would anyone want to use gtalk over whatsapp? Unlike GTalk whatsapp doesn't store and data mine my conversations for targeted advertising. Source: http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/21864047 http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/general/21864047 "We do not store your chat history on our servers. Chat messages are considered private and are only stored until they are delivered."
- jxi 14y ago
  Uh.. you gonna back that up with some proof or reasoning? Or are you just trying to spread FUD? What's your gripe with data mining anyway, and you can always use OTR.
micampe 14y ago
Sadly? Not for me. Here is one big reason I prefer services like WhatsApp (I don’t actually use WhatsApp itself): I do not want the presence reporting. I want to send a message to people and they read and respond whenever they want. I want people to message me and I read and respond whenever I want. I don’t want to deal with ping, hey, you are online why are you not responding. This is why half my Gtalk contacts are always “away” even if they are at the keyboard: presence status has become useless, let’s just get rid of it.
- derefr 14y ago
  Tracking "presence" makes sense when the program implementing it is running on a computer sitting on a desk, and then you sometimes walk away from that desk. Presence makes almost no sense when the program implementing it resides on a phone, where any time someone sends you a message--even if the application isn't running--you'll know (because your pants just buzzed), and could very well react to it if you felt like it. You're always "present"; you're just sometimes purposefully non-responsive. ...now, on the other hand, "openness to being interrupted" status could be pretty useful. :)
  - micampe 14y ago
    Half my contacts are always away, and have been for years. I think what you want should be a setting in my machine (whether phone or computer): silence all notifications when I don’t want to be interrupted (I use iOS “Do Not Disturb” all the time).
- Uchikoma 14y ago
  Very enlightening thought for mobile.
mhaymo 14y ago
As far as I can tell it's not available at all in the UK, I had no idea it was included by default on some phones.

mandeepj 14y ago

"What do they have that Google can't build themselves?" Your argument contradicts every acquisition\acquihires made by google so far

pmelendez 14y ago
Exactly... YouTube comes to my mind by instance.
- mhaymo 14y ago
  Except Google only acquired Youtube after Google Video failed to attract its users away.

niggler 14y ago

In your estimation, how frequently is venturebeat blogspam? Is it at the same level as forbes.com?

mhaymo 14y ago
I have no idea, I just noticed that this particular article added very little to the source. It's possible I'm misusing the term?
- niggler 14y ago
  Some sites like forbes.com are notorious for blogspam. I don't have too much familiarity, but all of the venturebeat posts that I have seen were indeed blogspam. I wanted to know if I was the only one who felt that :)

somesay 14y ago

Actually, WhatsApp service that targets Android and iOS. And they made adding contacts super easy. No ICQ number, no XMPP handle, no username. iMessage is Apple-only, Google Talk has a slightly different concept and more complicated. any messaging app included by default in Android will have users migrating in droves Yeah, that's why Google+ replaced Facebook and everyone is using Google Talk. Nearly every browser comes with Google as search engine or homepage and it didn't worked.