
Indonesia's trade minister runs his ministry on WhatsApp - williswee
https://www.techinasia.com/indonesias-trade-minister-runs-ministry-whatsapp/
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motoboi
Whatsapp dominated Brazil.

I work at a big government organization. Every department has its whatts
group.

I know a guy at my state government cabinet. He has several whatts groups
(even one with the governor himself).

I know a gentleman which is a judge. He has a group with his partner judges
and one with his staff.

My point is: if whatsapp usage is so pervasive at other countries as it is at
Brazil, it will soon, by (physical) social network effect, dominate USA.

The alternatives:

* Facebook Messenger: too slow. Only one friend of mine uses it.

* Telegram: looks and feels like a whatts clone. Some people here seem passionate about inviting friends, but most people I talk about fail to see any advantage in using it. Some people hate it. As a plus, it will SPAM all your contacts when you sign up.

* Google Hangout: even I can't figure out what this is. Is this SMS or a messenger application. Now my phone has another application called Messenger (from Google). Confuse. No one I know use it.

* SMS: too expensive.

* Apple Message: only Apple users can use it. People prefer whatts because everyone is there.

* Zoiper: got traction, but whatts voice messages killed it.

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wil421
How is SMS too expensive? At least in the US all the common plans come with
unlimited SMS/MMS

I use Whatsapp to connect with my brother-in-law in Costa Rica and his family
and thats it.

Everyone else in the US I use group messages with. There are probly 6 or 7
group message groups I use on weekly basis and more I use less frequently.

There isnt really a reason to switch from group messages to whatsapp.
Especially if all the participants have an iPhone it makes things easier. I
have several Android friends as well and we use group messages together.

~~~
maw
He's not in the US. Things are different outside it.

Further, on some carriers and especially between carriers, you can't rely on
an SMS reaching its destination. For all its faults -- and they are legion --
Whatsapp is a real improvement in this regard.

~~~
wil421
Interesting I never thought SMS had issues reaching destinations but I can
understand how it could happen. It would also explain why having a
robust/cheap SMS option would deter users from Whatsapp.

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sauere
> I mentioned to them I appreciate end-to-end encryption on WhatsApp

Oh Boy. WhatsApp is very much the opposite of proper end-to-end encryption.

~~~
mtgx
With so many hundreds of millions people in Asian countries using Whatsapp,
it's quite surprising that more governments aren't complaining about
Whatsapp's encryption. Iran just complained about Telegram and it doesn't even
have end-to-end encryption by default as Whatsapp is supposed to have. I think
that should tell us something about Whatsapp's E2E encryption (which again,
the team has never even officially said it's using).

~~~
kenrick95
From the FAQ[1]: "WhatsApp communication between your phone and our server is
encrypted."

[1]
[http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/general/21864047](http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/general/21864047)

~~~
sauere
The definition of End-to-End encryption is that _only_ the participants are
able to read their messages.

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hanief
I live in Indonesia. Believe me, everyone is on whatsapp right now. Every
community from school friends, business colleague, even neighborhood security
is coordinated on a whatsapp group. The money paid by facebook for it is now
seem like a great deal, as also for instagram.

As a developer, i wish they have an API though. A native desktop app is on
wish list too.

~~~
GFischer
The company I work for would definitely pay for an API.

However, as a user, I'd hate it. I already receive too many spammy SMSs, if
WhatsApp was an alternative, it would be dreadful.

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hellofunk
This is absolutely no surprise. In Asia, WhatsApp was assumed to be on every
phone and it was used instead of contracts, phone calls, and SMS for a wide
range or business tasks like finding apartments, agreements with vendors, even
public service announcements, during my time in Singapore. It's really not a
bad idea if the security of the data can be guaranteed.

~~~
geomark
Asia is a big place. WhatsApp has a small presence many places. Line dominates
in some countries.

~~~
hellofunk
Well, I've been in most parts of Asia quite regularly except for China and
Japan, and WhatsApp has been absolutely everywhere. It's in the U.S. where it
has not really caught on, at least most of my friends there have never heard
of it.

~~~
geomark
Line is tops in Thailand and Japan. In S. Korea it's KaokaoTalk. China prefers
WeChat. Those are all big markets. So there's certainly no single dominant
messaging app.

~~~
mafribe
Line is superbig in Taiwan too.

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LoSboccacc
that'll make NSA so happy. keep on!

~~~
GFischer
As if they already didn't have all his data... come on.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93Indonesia_sp...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia%E2%80%93Indonesia_spying_scandal)

~~~
LoSboccacc
of course, but every new channel is welcome. you need plenty backups in the
event one source dries.

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tyrion
Isn't end to end encryption only working for android phones?

