Thoughts about my free iphone app - WhatsApp
Feb 7, 2020, 1:10 pm
#376
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I switched to WhatsApp when most everyone else I was communicating with (mostly in the US) turned in their BlackBerry devices. We 
riginally used BB groups.
riginally used BB groups.
Feb 7, 2020, 1:23 pm
#377
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No, we had unlimited SMS in Europe back when Whatapp and the others began. I think the original driving force for OTT texting was from Europe to developing nations that had very expensive mobile service. Also within and between developing nations. The customers were mostly using WiFi in those places. And once that built up to a critical mass, SMS began to fall away. Although there are still many millions of SMS messages sent in Europe each day. I recall at one point, about 10-15 years ago, the SMS industry was larger than all of Hollywood (films, TV, music) put together in terms of revenue.
Yeah texting wasn't unlimited until maybe 5-10 years ago in the US.
And it definitely was a bigger thing in Europe before it was in the US.
There were a lot of apps which offered "free" texting in response to the US carrier SMS pricing at the time.
Skype was around and I think they had mobile apps. But they obviously blew their chance. I think MS may have bought them around the time WA took off.
Feb 7, 2020, 2:05 pm
#378
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I didn't write, nor did I mean to mistakenly imply... that Europe didn't have SMS early on. My focus is on what differentiated the two regions to make everyone in Europe abandon SMS and switch to WhatsApp. The only factor I can conceive of has to be the pricing structure of SMS in Europe vs the USA at the time.
Feb 7, 2020, 2:17 pm
#379
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The reason a lot of people in the UK moved from SMS to WhatsApp (or iMessage) was that you could easily send pictures and videos. Plus it was free. MMS was always a bit a black art... half the time all you got was a link to the actual photo.
WhatsApp made it a lot easier.
WhatsApp made it a lot easier.
Feb 7, 2020, 2:19 pm
#380
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The reason a lot of people in the UK moved from SMS to WhatsApp (or iMessage) was that you could easily send pictures and videos. Plus it was free. MMS was always a bit a black art... half the time all you got was a link to the actual photo.
WhatsApp made it a lot easier.
WhatsApp made it a lot easier.
Feb 8, 2020, 12:46 pm
#381
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The reason a lot of people in the UK moved from SMS to WhatsApp (or iMessage) was that you could easily send pictures and videos. Plus it was free. MMS was always a bit a black art... half the time all you got was a link to the actual photo.
WhatsApp made it a lot easier.
WhatsApp made it a lot easier.
Feb 8, 2020, 1:18 pm
#382
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The good thing about sms is that it works without data. Sometime when you are at an event with too many people in one place, like a food festival, your data speed slow to non-existence. Our family was spread out to try different stalls and rely on Whatsapp to find each other. Can't do that because the data just not sending. So we went back to SMS and worked perfectly.
Feb 8, 2020, 2:15 pm
#383
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The good thing about sms is that it works without data. Sometime when you are at an event with too many people in one place, like a food festival, your data speed slow to non-existence. Our family was spread out to try different stalls and rely on Whatsapp to find each other. Can't do that because the data just not sending. So we went back to SMS and worked perfectly.
Feb 9, 2020, 2:45 pm
#385
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I dislike WhatsApp and would uninstall the app except I communicate with friends in India.
Feb 9, 2020, 2:58 pm
#386
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Apple did okay with sales of iPhone in India this past quarter.
They are suppose to come out with a lower-priced, small screen model this spring, which may help increase sales even more in India.
So maybe there will gradually be more iMessage users in India.
They are suppose to come out with a lower-priced, small screen model this spring, which may help increase sales even more in India.
So maybe there will gradually be more iMessage users in India.
Feb 10, 2020, 2:42 am
#387
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I find it really funny how many people here in the US pontificate on the usefulness of Whatsapp, when in fact in much of the world, whatsapp is basically a daily feature used far more often by people than SMS, telephony, or anything else. Not to mention how quick the adaptation rate is/was. I recall in the Netherlands Whatsapp went from being new, to something like 80% penetration in a period of something like 3 months, and the value(s) of Dutch telecoms operators taking a significant hit due to that at the time.
Feb 10, 2020, 3:09 am
#388
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iMessage use will rise in India. However, unless and until Apple allows other kinds of phone operating systems to receive iMessages, iMessage won't be able to rise to a large enough installed base to become close to what WhatsApp is today. Apple is running against a whole bunch of very cheap Chinese-made phones that have taken over India. And, given that the Indian Government is hostile to device user and communication privacy in a way that is not so different than what is encountered in China, it is to be seen what the Indian Government does to go up against Apple even as it wants Apple to become a substantial manufacturer in India.
Feb 10, 2020, 3:12 am
#389
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What are the advantages of iMessage over WhatsApp?
Of my friends, relatives and colleagues, I'd estimate to to be around 60% Android, 40% iOS. However, I don't know of anyone who uses iMessage. Or maybe they do, in addition to WhatsApp.
Of my friends, relatives and colleagues, I'd estimate to to be around 60% Android, 40% iOS. However, I don't know of anyone who uses iMessage. Or maybe they do, in addition to WhatsApp.
Feb 10, 2020, 3:14 am
#390
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So what if Apple makes a cheaper phone for India? That will mean that what Apple goes from 4% to 8% of the market? All it will mean is that Apple users will use Whatsapp to communicate with everyone else?I message in India has the status/user base of BBM's everywhere else in 2018.