.... and why they're worth 19 billion dollars? You guys must have heard the news by now......?

What'sApp is worth that much because it costs crazy money to text people on your phone. What'sApp lets you do it practically for free. I use it a lot.

sexton said:

What'sApp is worth that much because it costs crazy money to text people on your phone. What'sApp lets you do it practically for free. I use it a lot.

Yeah, I'm finding that even texting some people with iPhones costs me money, but then it's free for others. I don't know why, but I'm asking more people to use whatsapp these days

it's nice to use when you want to send pics aswell, i don't have that facility on my contract so i always send pics using whatsapp

Can you explain to me HOW you send the pics? How is it different from MMS? Do you take the picture inside the app?

I've never used any of these things myself, I hate cellphones in general, and don't use them unless I'm forced to.

To receive the messages, you have to have WhatsApp installed on your phone right? It seems to me that this is just like ICQ, from such a long time ago..... can any of the geeky types here tell me if there's a difference?

ZombieKitten said:

Andy why don't you and I whatsapp?

You were the one who suggested I get it, but we chat on FB instead.

For U I would turn on whatsapp notifications, would that get U off? Then tell me what will!

Can you send texts on whatsApp internationally for the same price as someone in your own country?

ConsciousContact said:

Can you send texts on whatsApp internationally for the same price as someone in your own country?

it's free, just need wifi

NDRU said:

ZombieKitten said:

Andy why don't you and I whatsapp?

You were the one who suggested I get it, but we chat on FB instead.

For U I would turn on whatsapp notifications, would that get U off? Then tell me what will!

That's HOT

ConsciousContact said:

tatocorcu said:

ConsciousContact said:

Can you send texts on whatsApp internationally for the same price as someone in your own country?

If u have access to the internet, via wifi, 3G or 4g, it's free, including sending pictures; however, you are using your data allowance in your phone or you are abroad it might incur some charges. I use it all the time to talk to my family and friends in Spain, it's brilliant!

Yes, if you use it when travelling, do it when you have free wifi

sexton said:

What'sApp is worth that much because it costs crazy money to text people on your phone. What'sApp lets you do it practically for free. I use it a lot.

It does? How much?

Here in NZ most people have unlimited texting when they sign onto a monthly mobile phone plan. I guess that's why I can't understand the appeal of this...

I use it every day instead of texting via my iPhone plan. You can even send little audio messages on it now.

nd33 said:

sexton said:

What'sApp is worth that much because it costs crazy money to text people on your phone. What'sApp lets you do it practically for free. I use it a lot.

It does? How much?

Here in NZ most people have unlimited texting when they sign onto a monthly mobile phone plan. I guess that's why I can't understand the appeal of this...

Not everyone has unlimited texting--which is not free. And it's still very expensive to text from overseas.

NDRU said:

Is it a free app?

I always have to think, "How can this be worth $19 billion CASH when they give it away? What, exactly, is worth $19 billion CASH?"

Then I remember - the only thing they have to sell is their users' information.

ZombieKitten said:

NDRU said:

You were the one who suggested I get it, but we chat on FB instead.

For U I would turn on whatsapp notifications, would that get U off? Then tell me what will!

I whatsapped you yesterday but you're obviously busy with all that vag

yes...busy with vag...

bigd74 said:

ConsciousContact said:

Can you send texts on whatsApp internationally for the same price as someone in your own country?

it's free, just need wifi

it works without WiFi for me

shausler said:

bigd74 said:

shausler said:

it works without WiFi for me

Then it would use your data allowance wouldn't it? [Edited 2/26/14 7:24am]

i have unlimited grandfathered in . . .

and boy would at&t love to talk me out of that

[Edited 2/26/14 7:34am]

RodeoSchro said:

Then I remember - the only thing they have to sell is their users' information.

Yes, and this is EXTREMELY worrying. I'm surprised noone discusses this aspect of the thing. And, rejects this service because of it.

It's basically like an email service with the layout of short messaging. That's why you need internet access to use it.

shausler said:

bigd74 said:

shausler said: Then it would use your data allowance wouldn't it? [Edited 2/26/14 7:24am]

i have unlimited grandfathered in . . .

and boy would at&t love to talk me out of that

[Edited 2/26/14 7:34am]

Me too! Every time I upgrade my phone they "accidentally" revert me to a different plan but I call them and they reinstate my old one. Whew.

I use whatsapp for texting internationally mainly.

domainator2010 said:

RodeoSchro said:

Then I remember - the only thing they have to sell is their users' information.

Yes, and this is EXTREMELY worrying. I'm surprised noone discusses this aspect of the thing. And, rejects this service because of it.

Yeah, it begs the question - just exactly HOW MUCH of one's information do they have? I'd bet they have a lot more of it than most people realize. So the next question is, HOW did they get it?

Facebook paid $19 billion in cash for this company. Cash money - not stock that they could issue for free. Good old American CASH.

That means WhatsApp has a whole lot of something rock solid to sell. And the company that buys it?

They've got to earn a return on that $19 billion in cash they paid, so they are going to do everything they can to monetize all the information they bought. That means they are going to try to sell you stuff, and they are going to sell your information to lots of other advertisers.

On the face of it, that's not wrong. Business is all about selling. But it just creeps me out when a company goes to great lengths to gather my personal information and won't tell me how they are doing it. My little voice says, "If they're hiding what they're doing, it's probably because they think if I knew what they were doing, I'd not use their product".

I beg to differ, it IS, indeed, wrong. Very, VERY wrong. They have all the messages you've been sending your friends, stuff which you thought was for them to listen to, all along. Some random person knowing that is a HUGE privacy violation.

When I first heard about Facebook, that was the 1st thing that ran through my mind - Zuckerberg doesn't give a shit about whether you make friends on it or not, he's just trying to get at your data so he can target ads to you and make money. This reason should make EVERY SINGLE PERSON GET OFF OF FACEBOOK IMMEDIATELY! He's learnt to talk the biz lingo - you know, "ROI" and what not - other important sounding acronyms. I still can't believe so many people use it, as far as I'm concerned, I still haven't figured out what exactly it is, and how to use it. And also, of course, how so many people fell for the con. It really is, the most senseless thing I've ever heard of. Every orger who's reading this should just STOP!

And, Gmail and so forth are the same thing.

[Edited 2/27/14 10:54am]

Btw, I don't think it was all cash though - AFAIK, I think I heard some TV presenter talk about stock.