WhatsApp killing SMS

The cellular companies must carry their own blame for this. They made SMS prices outrageously expensive.
 
Compton_effect said:
Let me put it this way.
We've been having a Watsapp conversation between old friends for a while now.
One is in Seattle, one in London, the rest spread through SA.
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Yup. It's definitely brought family & friends closer. The conversation-like style of whatsapp, the ability to attach all kinds of media...I can't even recall the last time I sent an sms. The only sms's I receive are from the bank. Tbh I'd hardly call it a war - SMS is old tech that's only really good for things like banks.
 
saor said:
Yup. It's definitely brought family & friends closer. The conversation-like style of whatsapp, the ability to attach all kinds of media...I can't even recall the last time I sent an sms. The only sms's I receive are from the bank. Tbh I'd hardly call it a war - SMS is old tech that's only really good for things like banks.
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Everyone can receive an SMS, which is why it is still in use. It does kill me to have to pay a flat fee for sending "Yes".

After SMS came MMS, but then it never advanced, so perhaps that's the problem.
 
saor said:
Yup. It's definitely brought family & friends closer. The conversation-like style of whatsapp, the ability to attach all kinds of media...I can't even recall the last time I sent an sms. The only sms's I receive are from the bank. Tbh I'd hardly call it a war - SMS is old tech that's only really good for things like banks.
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+1

SMS.. lol. Providers made a ton of money off it..
 
Soon it will be killing off voice revenue too. The voice quality is spot on, and dropped calls are a thing of the past!

Watch as current data prices suddenly become "unsustainable"...
 
Also, SMS works as long as you have cell signal. That isn't always the case with data.

So it still has its uses.
 
whatwhat said:
Also, SMS works as long as you have cell signal. That isn't always the case with data.

So it still has its uses.
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That applies both ways. In my flat for example, I have a nice ADSL connection and absolutely appalling mobile reception. Capitec's USSD banking for example was unusable. Now they have an app that uses the internet, I have no problem.
 
Terrible title. If anything, that graph shows that WhatsApp _isn't_ killing SMS. WhatsApp is growing exponentially, yet SMS is on a slow downward trend. It's only gone down about 10% in 5 years.

SMS still beats all other mediums because it's the only tech you can send an important message and know with certainty it will reach the other side, and if not, you can find out exactly why not. Banks send tens of millions of SMSes a month to their clients - i'm surprised the move toward banking apps didn't have more of an impact on SMS - if I were a bank I'd give my customers a little discount for using app-only notifications and messaging.
 
This Whatsapp calls. Anyone know how much data it uses?

Cheaper than calls I suppose? (Obviously via WIFI and not Data bundles :p)
 
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