6 ms·

> in countries with SMS charges The funny thing is that in places like USA, you pay exorbitant amounts (~20 USD per month) for text messaging (when the real co

> in countries with SMS charges The funny thing is that in places like USA, you pay exorbitant amounts (~20 USD per month) for text messaging (when the real cost should be almost 0), yet it's still not caught on here - which is kinda sad.

atwebb 13y ago
It's just because it matters more that we have all of our contacts than save $20 a month. I think you'd need higher priced SMS or a very large WhatsApp userbase.
- nullspace 13y ago
  That is a very good point, even if you don't immediately realize the deeper implications. :) In India, you generally pay per text message - so if you can convince even 3 of your close friends to start using Whatsapp, you save (say) 20% of your phone bill. Here in US, if you are going to send more than a few texts a month, you are going to be paying 20 USD. So there is no real monetary incentive (initially) for you and two of your friends to switch to Whatsapp.
  - guelo 13y ago
    So why didn't Indian telecoms implement all-you-can-eat messaging to stop the erosion of users moving to WhatsApp?
    - hrjet 13y ago
      Indian telecom sector is highly regulated by the Govt. And it is very competitive. So there's no way such an all-or-nothing deal can be introduced so late in the game. Edit: Moreover, the telecoms do make money on the data plans don't they?
    - movingahead 13y ago
      They did for prices ranging from $1 - $2 per month. But text messaging does not do groups remotely as well as Whatsapp does.
      - balladeer 13y ago
        You can use it do group thing but then every message sent to group will charged as: cost of one SMS x number of users in the group. That charge will come to each user of the group whenever a message (%160 chars) is sent.
    - crucialfelix 13y ago
      Even better they partnered with WhatsApp and offer "unlimited WhatsApp" packs: http://telecomtalk.info/tata-docomo-launches-unlimited-whatsapp-packs-for-rs-15-and-rs-30/111506/ http://telecomtalk.info/tata-docomo-launches-unlimited-whats... SMS costs Rs1 per
    - balladeer 13y ago
      The number of WhatsApp users in India is still infinitely less than the plain vanilla SMS people. Specially the ones living in villages which is a huge majority with a huger margin. We also have SMS packs like 100 SMS a month by paying Rs 40 or so. But a DoT rule (which was actually twisted and misinterpreted by telecos) make that plan ineffective on any festive day and on those days you pay for each SMS and the rate is almost double or x3 or sometime x4 of what you would have paid without the SMS pack :-)
  - kamaal 13y ago
    The best part is most womenfolk at home, can use unlimited messaging if all they is a wifi connection and absolutely no balance on their pre paid cards. Essentially WhatsApp is free messaging as long as you have a internet connection. And that's pretty cheap these days.
- bricestacey 13y ago
  Agreed, pretty much anyone in the United States above the poverty level seems willing to spend $20 a month for unlimited texting. I'm way above that, yet I opted for the pay per text plan and paid 20 cents per text. All my friends made fun of me, but I saved a few dollars since iMessage didn't count toward my costs. However, it effected how people without iPhones would naturally choose to interact with me. Basically, everyone loves iMessage, but no one thinks twice about alternatives. The general assumption seems to be that it's a god given right that you can send a text to a phone number. iMessage did such wonders obscuring that, whereas having to actually download some other app unveils everything.
  - bluedino 13y ago
    >> Agreed, pretty much anyone in the United States above the poverty level seems willing to spend $20 a month for unlimited texting. Even if you are at poverty level and qualify for a free phone (through the Lifelink program, or 'Obamaphone') you still get something like 250 texts included with that
Larrikin 13y ago
People in the us use messenger. Same as people in Japan use line.
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
It's usually bundled with data, isn't it?
- Crito 13y ago
  Yes. Most people seem to have unlimited SMS, yet I doubt few people got the plan they did specifically for unlimited SMS.
  - Crito 13y ago
    s/few/many.
crucialfelix 13y ago
I remember that the US didn't really use SMS for a long time, but everybody in Europe did. The US at the time had generous calling plans, and people there didn't yet discover the nice social effect of communicating silently (with texting).
- jmpe 13y ago
  They used bait & switch in Europe (at least where I was) to entice SMS adoption. There was a multitude of free SMS services: online sites where you could send someone a message for free or SMS a service that would forward it without being charged. Then, in the span of a few weeks, the services disappeared.
superuser2 13y ago
Not everyone has a smartphone. Many of the people I need to text (especially my parents) have feature phones with no data plans. Having to remember which messaging system you should use for each person is annoying, so most people just use one.
- auctiontheory 13y ago
  I have a hard time believing that the density of WhatsApp-capable phones is higher across the developing world (where WhatsApp is popular) than in the US.
  - skrebbel 13y ago
    Probably not, but it's close to equally high, which is one of Whatsapp's strong points. Additionally, it's not just popular in "the developing world" (whatever that means), but also in many European countries. I haven't seen a map, but I suspect that Whatsapp is very popular nearly everywhere outside the US and China.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
fizx 13y ago
iMessages

atwebb 13y ago

It's just because it matters more that we have all of our contacts than save $20 a month. I think you'd need higher priced SMS or a very large WhatsApp userbase.

nullspace 13y ago
That is a very good point, even if you don't immediately realize the deeper implications. :) In India, you generally pay per text message - so if you can convince even 3 of your close friends to start using Whatsapp, you save (say) 20% of your phone bill. Here in US, if you are going to send more than a few texts a month, you are going to be paying 20 USD. So there is no real monetary incentive (initially) for you and two of your friends to switch to Whatsapp.
- guelo 13y ago
  So why didn't Indian telecoms implement all-you-can-eat messaging to stop the erosion of users moving to WhatsApp?
  - hrjet 13y ago
    Indian telecom sector is highly regulated by the Govt. And it is very competitive. So there's no way such an all-or-nothing deal can be introduced so late in the game. Edit: Moreover, the telecoms do make money on the data plans don't they?
  - movingahead 13y ago
    They did for prices ranging from $1 - $2 per month. But text messaging does not do groups remotely as well as Whatsapp does.
    - balladeer 13y ago
      You can use it do group thing but then every message sent to group will charged as: cost of one SMS x number of users in the group. That charge will come to each user of the group whenever a message (%160 chars) is sent.
  - crucialfelix 13y ago
    Even better they partnered with WhatsApp and offer "unlimited WhatsApp" packs: http://telecomtalk.info/tata-docomo-launches-unlimited-whatsapp-packs-for-rs-15-and-rs-30/111506/ http://telecomtalk.info/tata-docomo-launches-unlimited-whats... SMS costs Rs1 per
  - balladeer 13y ago
    The number of WhatsApp users in India is still infinitely less than the plain vanilla SMS people. Specially the ones living in villages which is a huge majority with a huger margin. We also have SMS packs like 100 SMS a month by paying Rs 40 or so. But a DoT rule (which was actually twisted and misinterpreted by telecos) make that plan ineffective on any festive day and on those days you pay for each SMS and the rate is almost double or x3 or sometime x4 of what you would have paid without the SMS pack :-)
- kamaal 13y ago
  The best part is most womenfolk at home, can use unlimited messaging if all they is a wifi connection and absolutely no balance on their pre paid cards. Essentially WhatsApp is free messaging as long as you have a internet connection. And that's pretty cheap these days.
bricestacey 13y ago
Agreed, pretty much anyone in the United States above the poverty level seems willing to spend $20 a month for unlimited texting. I'm way above that, yet I opted for the pay per text plan and paid 20 cents per text. All my friends made fun of me, but I saved a few dollars since iMessage didn't count toward my costs. However, it effected how people without iPhones would naturally choose to interact with me. Basically, everyone loves iMessage, but no one thinks twice about alternatives. The general assumption seems to be that it's a god given right that you can send a text to a phone number. iMessage did such wonders obscuring that, whereas having to actually download some other app unveils everything.
- bluedino 13y ago
  >> Agreed, pretty much anyone in the United States above the poverty level seems willing to spend $20 a month for unlimited texting. Even if you are at poverty level and qualify for a free phone (through the Lifelink program, or 'Obamaphone') you still get something like 250 texts included with that

Larrikin 13y ago

People in the us use messenger. Same as people in Japan use line.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

It's usually bundled with data, isn't it?

Crito 13y ago
Yes. Most people seem to have unlimited SMS, yet I doubt few people got the plan they did specifically for unlimited SMS.
- Crito 13y ago
  s/few/many.

crucialfelix 13y ago

I remember that the US didn't really use SMS for a long time, but everybody in Europe did. The US at the time had generous calling plans, and people there didn't yet discover the nice social effect of communicating silently (with texting).

jmpe 13y ago
They used bait & switch in Europe (at least where I was) to entice SMS adoption. There was a multitude of free SMS services: online sites where you could send someone a message for free or SMS a service that would forward it without being charged. Then, in the span of a few weeks, the services disappeared.

superuser2 13y ago

Not everyone has a smartphone. Many of the people I need to text (especially my parents) have feature phones with no data plans. Having to remember which messaging system you should use for each person is annoying, so most people just use one.

auctiontheory 13y ago
I have a hard time believing that the density of WhatsApp-capable phones is higher across the developing world (where WhatsApp is popular) than in the US.
- skrebbel 13y ago
  Probably not, but it's close to equally high, which is one of Whatsapp's strong points. Additionally, it's not just popular in "the developing world" (whatever that means), but also in many European countries. I haven't seen a map, but I suspect that Whatsapp is very popular nearly everywhere outside the US and China.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

fizx 13y ago

iMessages