Maybe I'm not down with the kids, but I'm not understanding what any of these message apps offer over plain old fashioned email. It alerts me on my phone, it w

Maybe I'm not down with the kids, but I'm not understanding what any of these message apps offer over plain old fashioned email. It alerts me on my phone, it works on my computer, it sends to groups, everyone already has it, it sends photos, it stores a history of all my past communications in one place accessible from anywhere. It's not completely secure but at least you don't have to trust any foreign corporation (Facebook, WhatsApp, etc) with your private messages and can run your own server if you like. Also what if Facebook lock your account because they don't like your name, or WhatsApp go bust and shut down in a few years time? Then you've lost everything, because it was locked into their proprietary little system. I don't understand how anyone would chose one of these as their primary method of communication. Especially as they are all newcomers, and email was well established as what the world used to communicate before they arrived. No-one buys a phone and then decides 'Hmm shall I install email or WhatsApp'; no, you buy a phone, you set-up the email account that you've already had for 20 years, and then after that you maybe decide to install another app. This app offers nothing over email, yet you and all your friends abandon email and use the new app instead? That is some powerful marketing they must have done.