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fxj

In principle instant messaging is just email with a dumbed down interface.

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In principle, email is just exchanging TCP packets with a dumbed down interface.

In principle, TCP packets are just bits with a dumbed down interface.

In principle, bits are just voltage levels with a dumbed down interface

https://xkcd.com/435/

Ha! From another article currently on front page:

> "Arkani-Hamed now sees the ultimate goal of physics as figuring out the mathematical question from which all the answers flow."

(https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/a-different-kind-...)

In principle voltage levels are just a measurement of electron flow with a dumbed down interface.

oh god, please don't turn HN into reddit

oopsie

But email relies on free and open source standards while instant messaging is a walled garden that relies on closed protocols by some shady corporations that sell your data.

Compared to... a walled garden that relies on secret algorithms written by shady corporations that sell your data.

XMPP and Matrix (and arguably ActivityPub) are open specifications for IM, each with multiple interoperable implementations. (I'm counting mxhsd as a 2nd implementation of a Matrix server; I accept that it isn't mature yet.)

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