Why are US users so focused on iMessage? I have seen rejected date memes because the message bubble had the wrong color. There are tons of alternatives out there. Is this a status thing?
vast majority of people use the default app their phone choice comes with.
historically eise, the reason EU uses whatsapp was that there was a time period early on where sms costed money, so people used whatsapp to circumvent that. the U.S didnt have that problem as sms was free for the majority of people in that time period.
Not everybody, and not infinitely far back. There was definitely a period where there were no free texts included (although I do think that by the iPhone introduction many did have it, but still not all!)
its good to be clear that we are talking about a time period when people migrated to whatapp, and the reasoning for migrating to whatsapp. and how the ‘text for free’ thing wasn’t a big motivator, (nor was it a new idea)
wasn’t it the long distance thing? charged for sending SMS outside of your network or something. I recall whatsapp was the way to text your parents from one country in to another, even in the EU.
I know for a fact my fam adopted almost a decade ago, so we can text from USA to EU to SA to Canada. Family all over and it’s free.
because people were already uaing sms when it was paid beforehand before smartphones were a thing. people just used to whatever the default was, especially since its not like everyone switched to a smart phone immediately after the iphone 3gs’ relase. sms was the default method to talk to people who were still using “dumbphones”
(Which is surprising, given that the US has arguably the strongest software development industry in the world.)
Most Americans just use the default apps installed on their phones. Facebook Messenger is really the only non-default messaging app with mass market penetration, and that’s because most Americans already have Facebook accounts.
Americans just don’t want to sign up for new accounts or learn new apps. Therefore, iMessage won by default.
Why are US users so focused on iMessage? I have seen rejected date memes because the message bubble had the wrong color. There are tons of alternatives out there. Is this a status thing?
vast majority of people use the default app their phone choice comes with.
historically eise, the reason EU uses whatsapp was that there was a time period early on where sms costed money, so people used whatsapp to circumvent that. the U.S didnt have that problem as sms was free for the majority of people in that time period.
This seems a bit revisionist. Everyone had an amount of smses per month that were free in their contract.
People switched to whatsapp because it was better than sms.
Not everybody, and not infinitely far back. There was definitely a period where there were no free texts included (although I do think that by the iPhone introduction many did have it, but still not all!)
its good to be clear that we are talking about a time period when people migrated to whatapp, and the reasoning for migrating to whatsapp. and how the ‘text for free’ thing wasn’t a big motivator, (nor was it a new idea)
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wasn’t it the long distance thing? charged for sending SMS outside of your network or something. I recall whatsapp was the way to text your parents from one country in to another, even in the EU.
I know for a fact my fam adopted almost a decade ago, so we can text from USA to EU to SA to Canada. Family all over and it’s free.
39 cents/SMS. I remember this time. This does not explain why it has to be that specific protocol, though.
because people were already uaing sms when it was paid beforehand before smartphones were a thing. people just used to whatever the default was, especially since its not like everyone switched to a smart phone immediately after the iphone 3gs’ relase. sms was the default method to talk to people who were still using “dumbphones”
Also, at the time, WhatsApp was pretty much the only option. Nowadays, there are a lot of other options.
A part of it was that they put in the effort to support featurephones. People with smartphones always had other options.
Yes it’s a status thing and I’m aware of people who have been rejected on dates for having an Android.
Sounds like they are better off that way. Anyone who thinks that is important is probably not worth it.
I’ll bet that most of them never happened. But they do make great memes!
The average American is not tech savvy.
(Which is surprising, given that the US has arguably the strongest software development industry in the world.)
Most Americans just use the default apps installed on their phones. Facebook Messenger is really the only non-default messaging app with mass market penetration, and that’s because most Americans already have Facebook accounts.
Americans just don’t want to sign up for new accounts or learn new apps. Therefore, iMessage won by default.