<story><title>Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS</title><url>https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/19/google-changes-its-messaging-strategy-again-goodbye-to-allo-double-down-on-rcs/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>exabrial</author><text>The carriers are idiots. It&amp;#x27;s where innovation goes to die.&lt;p&gt;We had to pull them kicking and screaming into the smart phone and data era. (Remember When AT&amp;amp;T sent a paper copy of every image you downloaded on your iPhone in a bill?)&lt;p&gt;Quite frankly the core problem with Google&amp;#x27;s strategy is involving then at all. Instead, go the manufacturers and campaign against supporting sms &lt;i&gt;at all&lt;/i&gt;. It&amp;#x27;s insecure, slow, unreliable, monitored, among many other things.  Push the manufacturers to an open Android messaging api that runs over TLS (or double ratchet) and bypasses the carriers completely, but the manufacturers can still rebrand.&lt;p&gt;The other issue is Apple. For as much as they claim &amp;quot;privacy is a human right&amp;quot;, they have been jerks about making sure iMessage drags it&amp;#x27;s feet using secure technologies to communicate outside of their ecosystem. Apple wants to ride a white horse on encryption, but in reality they&amp;#x27;re having an opposite, negative, effect on the vast majority of the world&amp;#x27;s population.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>scrooched_moose</author><text>&amp;gt; unreliable&lt;p&gt;Really? It&amp;#x27;s the only messaging format that works without a data connection and is an absolute godsend when I&amp;#x27;m out camping, rural biking, or at large sporting events and the towers are absolutely swamped.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m in a situation at least once a month where the only reliable communication method is SMS.</text></comment>
<story><title>Google changes its messaging strategy again: Goodbye to Allo, double down on RCS</title><url>https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/19/google-changes-its-messaging-strategy-again-goodbye-to-allo-double-down-on-rcs/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>exabrial</author><text>The carriers are idiots. It&amp;#x27;s where innovation goes to die.&lt;p&gt;We had to pull them kicking and screaming into the smart phone and data era. (Remember When AT&amp;amp;T sent a paper copy of every image you downloaded on your iPhone in a bill?)&lt;p&gt;Quite frankly the core problem with Google&amp;#x27;s strategy is involving then at all. Instead, go the manufacturers and campaign against supporting sms &lt;i&gt;at all&lt;/i&gt;. It&amp;#x27;s insecure, slow, unreliable, monitored, among many other things.  Push the manufacturers to an open Android messaging api that runs over TLS (or double ratchet) and bypasses the carriers completely, but the manufacturers can still rebrand.&lt;p&gt;The other issue is Apple. For as much as they claim &amp;quot;privacy is a human right&amp;quot;, they have been jerks about making sure iMessage drags it&amp;#x27;s feet using secure technologies to communicate outside of their ecosystem. Apple wants to ride a white horse on encryption, but in reality they&amp;#x27;re having an opposite, negative, effect on the vast majority of the world&amp;#x27;s population.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jimktrains2</author><text>&amp;gt; Quite frankly the core problem with Google&amp;#x27;s strategy is involving then at all. Instead, go the manufacturers and campaign against supporting sms at all. It&amp;#x27;s insecure, slow, unreliable, monitored, among many other things. Push the manufacturers to an open Android messaging api that runs over TLS (or double ratchet) and bypasses the carriers completely, but the manufacturers can still rebrand.&lt;p&gt;But it&amp;#x27;s universal. I would never buy a phone that doesn&amp;#x27;t support sms. How do I contact people with flip phones? People with iPhones?&lt;p&gt;Also, Gchat is &amp;quot;monitored&amp;quot; as much as sms. Imessage claims it&amp;#x27;s not, but has that&amp;#x2F;can that be verified?</text></comment>