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Whatsapp. It is now a fundamental piece of communication in my country. Without it, you can barely communicate. Texting (SMS) is dead. Phone calls are too intim

Whatsapp. It is now a fundamental piece of communication in my country. Without it, you can barely communicate. Texting (SMS) is dead. Phone calls are too intimate, the minutes too expensive. Everyone has data connectivity due to their smartphones. I resisted for a very long time but at some point you will HAVE to get yourself into it. Especially when you get frustrated looks when people cannot find you in their Whatsapp contact list.

k-mcgrady 13y ago
I've noticed the same thing. I find it strange though. Most people I know have smart phones on contracts and most smartphones come with unlimited SMS. Still these people prefer Whatsapp and Viber. I drives me nuts as I'd rather not send me communications through yet another company.
- pearjuice 13y ago
  It is mostly the ability to participate in group chats, share media and the native feel of it. It really just works. I don't like the whole third party idea either, especially because the company behind Whatsapp is pretty shady. SMS is just too dated to compete. In fact, wih the new SMS proxy API in Android (apps can act as interfaces to SMS), Whatsapp can even obtain a bigger role.
- EGreg 13y ago
  But SMS is also sent through a company(ies)
  - k-mcgrady 13y ago
    With Whatsapp I'm sending my messages using data that's already going through my phone company. In other words why not use SMS? By using Whatapp I'm just adding a second company to the mix that doesn't need to be there.
    - EGreg 13y ago
      Mostly because the sms exchanges between companies are worse than using data to access an internet based messaging service. They have wacky standards support (Group MMS?) and wildly overcharge you for sending 144 characters.
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        Who doesn't have unlimited SMS? I mean that seriously, nobody in any of my social circles uses whatsapp. I honestly don't have a solid grasp on who exactly their core market is.
        EGreg 13y ago
        Lots of people dont have unlimited MMS and anyway none of what you said addresses the above reasons for wanting an internet based messaging system
        DanBC 13y ago
        Do you know many 13 - 16 year olds? > I honestly don't have a solid grasp on who exactly their core market is. I'm guessing it's whoever was using blackberry messenger.
        jlgreco 13y ago
        > "Do you know many 13 - 16 year olds?" Admittedly no, but aren't most children on their parent's cellphone plans? I would expect the cash strapped ones to be in their early twenties, but I'm not seeing that in practice. I suspect the value in whatsapp is in something other than limitations of SMS, but I can't say what.
        kmfrk 13y ago
        The popularity of BBM didn't come out of nowhere. Some countries have better plans than others. And teens can send insane amounts of texts.
        desas 13y ago
- wcummings 13y ago
  Whatsapp is like iChat, but x-platform. You get delivery notification etc
EGreg 13y ago
Where, Israel?

k-mcgrady 13y ago

I've noticed the same thing. I find it strange though. Most people I know have smart phones on contracts and most smartphones come with unlimited SMS. Still these people prefer Whatsapp and Viber. I drives me nuts as I'd rather not send me communications through yet another company.

pearjuice 13y ago
It is mostly the ability to participate in group chats, share media and the native feel of it. It really just works. I don't like the whole third party idea either, especially because the company behind Whatsapp is pretty shady. SMS is just too dated to compete. In fact, wih the new SMS proxy API in Android (apps can act as interfaces to SMS), Whatsapp can even obtain a bigger role.
EGreg 13y ago
But SMS is also sent through a company(ies)
- k-mcgrady 13y ago
  With Whatsapp I'm sending my messages using data that's already going through my phone company. In other words why not use SMS? By using Whatapp I'm just adding a second company to the mix that doesn't need to be there.
  - EGreg 13y ago
    Mostly because the sms exchanges between companies are worse than using data to access an internet based messaging service. They have wacky standards support (Group MMS?) and wildly overcharge you for sending 144 characters.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      Who doesn't have unlimited SMS? I mean that seriously, nobody in any of my social circles uses whatsapp. I honestly don't have a solid grasp on who exactly their core market is.
      - EGreg 13y ago
        Lots of people dont have unlimited MMS and anyway none of what you said addresses the above reasons for wanting an internet based messaging system
      - DanBC 13y ago
        Do you know many 13 - 16 year olds? > I honestly don't have a solid grasp on who exactly their core market is. I'm guessing it's whoever was using blackberry messenger.
        jlgreco 13y ago
        > "Do you know many 13 - 16 year olds?" Admittedly no, but aren't most children on their parent's cellphone plans? I would expect the cash strapped ones to be in their early twenties, but I'm not seeing that in practice. I suspect the value in whatsapp is in something other than limitations of SMS, but I can't say what.
      - kmfrk 13y ago
        The popularity of BBM didn't come out of nowhere. Some countries have better plans than others. And teens can send insane amounts of texts.
      - desas 13y ago
wcummings 13y ago
Whatsapp is like iChat, but x-platform. You get delivery notification etc

EGreg 13y ago

Where, Israel?