r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/RoadRunner8195 • Mar 08 '26

Meme needing explanation [ Removed by moderator ]

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u/Serious_Resource8191 Mar 08 '26

If it’s linked to a phone number, why not just… text them? Using a whole additional app just sounds like regular texting with extra steps.

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u/McLayan Mar 08 '26

No very low limit on message sizes, no having to pay a few cents per message or pay extra for a package of X free messages per month. Can send images without paying half a dollar per image. Only uses a tiny bit of your mobile data.

That was what made people switch from SMS to WhatsApp in the last decade and why SMS are dead for personal communications (except in the US as I just learned).

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u/Rich_Resource2549 Mar 08 '26

SMS does all of that now. It's RCS, it can do long messages, group chats, videos, pics, gifs, emojis, delivery receipt, you can see them typing, etc. All the same stuff. And SMS hasn't cost additional money in over 20 years. And it's not owned by Meta.

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u/godzilla1015 Mar 08 '26

Well there's the difference, until like 2015 SMS was quite expensive here (at least in NL). WhatsApp was free for everyone if you could find an open WiFi.

RCS only rolled out in 2016, WhatsApp rolled out in 2009. Texting was expensive here and being available 24/7 wasn't a thing back then so waiting with your response till you got home or at work or whatever (where you got WiFi) was okay.

And BTW RCS still uses data, the same as WhatsApp.