Wouldn't it be nice if we could use an open, standard protocol and network so I don't need 5 apps installed to communicate with various circles of friends over different mediums.
Ideally, federation. But bar that, this is better than having everything in one app.
Bonus: this puts the pain in the front, where it should be. If there was ever a chance of getting back to an open protocol, this will be the best way to get there: make the proprietary universe annoying for users.
https://whispersystems.org/blog/the-ecosystem-is-moving/
tl;dr: features features features
I'd glady give up all these gimmick features, like stickers and so on, to have some proper standardization.
I mean audio messages and gif seem revolutionary to some, but in reality it's just a file being sent from one device to another. And in the end it's these end clients interpreting the data.
If email hadn't had become dominant so early, you'd also have companies trying to split and isolate communication, claiming features but actually only going after profits and monopolising.
You have that option available to you already. XMPP is here to stay. Unfortunately, network effects being what they are, you may or may not have many people to talk to.
Meanwhile, people continue to flock to
* Slack (deliberately putting this at the top, given the audience) * Signal * Whatsapp * Line * WeChat * Facebook Messenger * Viber
> If email hadn't had become dominant so early, you'd also have companies trying to split and isolate communication, claiming features but actually only going after profits and monopolising.
If you've tried running your own email servers recently, you may have noticed that emails going into the big providers (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo) doesn't always get there. Despite the open platform and open standard, with the majority of mail flowing through those gate keepers, the barrier to entry has gotten higher than it should.
Unless you're pushing pharmaceuticals or fake designer products. Then that seems to make it through all the time.
>Meanwhile, people continue to flock to >* Slack (deliberately putting this at the top, given the audience) >* Signal >* Whatsapp >* Line >* WeChat >* Facebook Messenger >* Viber
is lacking consciousness for the effects. It is a comfortable illusion to ignore the fact that these are all (or at least predominantly) run by private companies, whose interest is not offering a through and through good service, but rather a profitable. Ostensibly, it might seem good/fast/better but that's by far not everything.
As others have mentioned, it is partly our "social/moral responsibility" (hope this wont provocate anyone) to educate people on the pitfalls and problems we and will be encountering with these services.
And regarding your second point, that also expands to the consciousness of decentralisation/federalisation/distribution. Centralize network is a special kind of distributed network with only one server. But that's not to point of people like me who are trying to promote these kinds of systems. And partially thats also blamable on the people who made the system (but to be fair, there were quite a few, and it wasn't that coordinated).
I can send an email with a binary attached and UTF-8 text through a protocol designed to only send ASCII text.
The coolest thing: someone from the 70s could receive it and it would mostly be OK.
Are you serious there? There were billion different apps doing text messaging too before Whatsapp. I don't see any point in dismissing the video chat on the basis that it is not the very first app.
- Ease to install
- Beautiful, intuitive GUI
- Always works and looks the same
- Keeps backups
- Zero cost
- Allows over-IP phone calls, now also with video
- Integrates well with phone
Ideally I wish the world used FaceTime/Messaging, since it integrates so nicely with everything Mac related. Also, BY FAR the best quality, and performance.
XMPP is the closest we've gotten (to my knowledge) to a standard protocol that was adopted (at least partially). But it's never really kicked off.
I guess I was thinking more about IM protocols rather than VOIP.