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Comment by aurareturn | Hacker News Reader

Why punish Apple for Google failing to create a good messaging service? Google failed to compete against iMessage in the US and failed to compete with Whatsapp worldwide. Now you want the government to step in to help Google make more money?

Let the competition dictate it. No need for the government to get involved. Maybe Google can spend $50 billion to create and market an alternative to iMessage if they truly care instead of these half-ass attempts once every 2 years.

Let's be real here. The only reason Google is pushing this is because they're losing Android users to iOS in the US due to the green/blue bubbles. It's a huge thorn for Android in the US. There is absolutely no reason any government, particularly, EU to push private messaging services to open up so Google can make more profit.

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Apple implementing RCS messages should allow anyone to build a messaging app that will be able to integrate directly with iMessage.

It is letting the competition dictate it by leveling the playing field for a behemoth like Apple with every single other messaging app developer/company.

Large tech companies vertically integrating by using their walled gardens as a weapon is literally the point of the EU regulations. For EU regulators, its not taking a side in apple vs google. Its taking a side in mega corporations vs any other company or person

>Apple implementing RCS messages should allow anyone to build a messaging app that will be able to integrate directly with iMessage.

Anyone is a weird way of spelling Google and Apple. Neither Android nor iOS let anyone make an app that can do RCS.

No, it would not allow anyone to integrate directly with iMessage. Apple would ship a competent way to send RCS messages and keep on adding more spices to iMessage.

RCS is better than text, but let’s not delude ourselves, it will likely never be better than iMessage or even WhatsApp.

You are extremely confused since you belive EU wants Google to make more profit.

No, I don't believe that. That's why I said it's a ridiculous idea.

You still don't get it. EU wants interoperable standards. Clear?

The thing is that in Europe people don't use iMessage or SMS. They use Whatsapp. So this problem is already solved there

There are interoperable apps. People choose to use alternatives. Why do EU bureaucrats get to make these decisions?

Interestingly, the only ones talking about this comes from the Android / Google / regulatory side.

Apple users are as far as I can tell happy the way it is.

I'm sure Apple users love the shitty images/videos they get when I text them :)

No, they don't. They just cut you out of their social circle. :)

Well you're talking about a userbase that's ecstatic to be overcharged for every single thing, and are heavily conditioned by Apple to view themselves as superior to other people because they bought a product.

yeah well fuck apple users feelings. force apple to open it up.

I'm happy to hear about any other open standard that you think might be better. The key is interoperability.

What's broken about the current way messaging landscape is?

The current scenario is so broken. You have multiple different platforms that do not interoperate with each other.

Different platforms have become the standard de facto in different regions of the world (iMessage in us, WhatsApp in Europe, WeChat in china, ..).

All of these platforms belong to private companies.

A sane landscape would be having platform interoperability, at least for the most common features and then let companies compete on features, not on user networks.

In Europe it is virtually impossible no to use WhatsApp, especially if you have kids. I don’t like it, but it’s one of the service I use the most, because I’m forced to.

I have a few messaging apps on my phone. It doesn't bother me at all that I communicate with my family using iMessage, some friends with Whatsapp, and some friends with other chat apps, and work using Slack.

What's the problem exactly?

To have a standard? Isn't that what phone numbers and SMS are if you want a standard way of reaching someone?

If you have other standards, you reduce innovation because in order to change anything, you have to get 100s of companies to agree and comply.

But if Whatsapp, iOS, Viber, WeChat, etc wants to make something better, they can write the code and release it tomorrow.

Users have chosen the private model. It's better. It's faster. It innovates more. If you want a standard, it'll just become like SMS years later. I don't want one single app. Each app does something better.

It's absurd. Imagine if it extended to voice calls. You could only talk to Apple users if you own an iPhone. Apple, and I guess you, would love it.

This is why we have regulated interoperability on many mass-market technologies. Imagine requiring a Ford to use certain gas stations or a Sony TV to view certain channels. There is no upside for the consumer when mass-market products leverage their popularity to create walled gardens.

You can send a SMS to iPhone users, and they'll see that in iMessage.

If you want a group chat with friends, there are a bunch of apps for that. If your friends wants those cool features but refuse to use any one of existing apps besides iMessage to talk to you, then they are not your friends.

I guess the coutnerpoint is that SMS was invented in, what, the mid 90s? And MMS invented in the mid 00s (?) when things like group chats or sending a video (!) over a phone (at least > 500KB) were inconceivable. We are long overdue for a new, modern, open standard. Apple has in a way invented a pseudo-standard and a) refusing to let others in and b) refusing to also support any other open standard. I think it's reasonable to expect we have a modern standard that supports now-simple things like half decent video transfer, files, groups, locations, etc.

the counterpoint is also that, internet is evolving way faster than those standards are able to keep up to speed.

Considering the issues folks are mentioning here about moving on to RCS and then possibly being unable to receive messages, etc... Americans can just do what the rest of the world does and use any app available on the app/play stores to chat. Whatsapp, kakaotalk, line, telegram, etc...

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