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Comment by ericpauley | Hacker News Reader

Cool! Why does it require texting a phone number, though? Why not just put a form right there on the site?

Simplicity. People text photos to each other all the time, but don’t always use web apps or mobile apps.

Text messages are baked into everyone’s phones already. No apps to download, or websites to visit and log into. It’s just there, and you know how to use it.

Also, if I wanted to cover the entire user base, I’d have to make this my full time job. I think there are larger markets to focus on :). This is just fun.

I’m assuming it’s so once you have that number in your contacts, you can just text photos to that number anytime without having to go to a website.

Yes this is correct. The simplicity of texting a photo is what I’m going for.

Texting to a number makes it accessible from more devices. It’s surprising how there’s still places that don’t have web but can send sms.

Texting a number makes it accessible from more devices out of 336 million, uploading a photo makes it accessible from fewer devices out of 7 billion.

7 billion people don’t have web access.

They don't need to. You only need 336 million of them.

The flow still requires Internet access to complete the purchase, though. Also, even in the US, all the legacy networks are gone and SMS (especially MMS) is being routed over LTE++ anyway.

They are trying to replicate WeChat or the other web based text services.

Unlike us HackerNews weirdos, most people don’t really do websites on their phone all that much. They text a lot tho.

The other day my mom said she can’t figure out ChatGPT because she made an account but there’s no icon on her desktop or phone and she doesn’t understand where it went.

Did you suggest installing the PWA? Or it doesn't have one?

Seriously? I thought everybody used their phone for their primary web browser. Only time i really use a browser is at work (or very occasionally while at home -- why walk across the room when a large part of the internet is in my back pocket?)

From what I’ve seen normies browse the internet, not the web. Partially because that’s what companies encourage.

Links are for sharing only and even that is primarily for those annoying friends who aren’t on the app you’re using. My girlfriend for example can go hours without ever leaving instagram or tiktok. If the content isn’t natively in there, it doesn’t exist.

And nobody ever clicks links I send them. Have had to start texting (iMessage) screenshots of articles and images or they just get ignored lol

When I publish an article, most readers read it because it lands inside their email app. Short email with link? Nobody clicks that. Long email you can read without leaving gets way more engagement.

Even the quickest Google search would disprove your anecdotes

Try it. Native content gets way higher engagement than a link out.

Think about it this way: would you have read this comment if I posted it on my site and pasted a link in this textbook instead of typing it out? Would you really?

Then you wanted to add the website icon to their iphone but it was intentionally made to complicated to remember how to do it. The onlookers make the computers are hard facial expression. You explain it was intentional. They think you are just not very good with computers.

Two thirds of all web traffic is mobile.

https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/mobile-internet-traffic

85% of all adults in the US use smart phones

https://www.zippia.com/advice/us-smartphone-industry-statist....

Yes I know. My point is that people don’t really “go to websites” as their primary mode of interacting with their mobile devices.

Btw, your link uses internet and web interchangeably so it’s hard to say whether it agrees with me or not. My point was that people use the internet [way] more than the web.

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