[HN Gopher] Facebook going down meant more than just a social ne...
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       Facebook going down meant more than just a social network being
       unavailable
        
       Author : MaxLeiter
       Score  : 18 points
       Date   : 2021-10-04 22:03 UTC (57 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (twitter.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (twitter.com)
        
       | runawaybottle wrote:
       | The main issue with WhatsApp as the primary platform of
       | communication is that it's exclusive. You can't actually switch
       | to Signal and continue with business because you'd need everyone
       | to switch with you. Tech has yet to go through it's
       | 'industrialization' phase where one of the main advents was
       | replaceable/interchangeable parts.
       | 
       | WhatsApp cannot be pointed to another network, it's total vendor
       | lock-in. Today happened at a non-critical time. If this happened
       | during a hurricane, or any other disaster, the critical nature
       | would be exposed.
       | 
       | Right now we're just amused, but the implications are real.
       | Facebook has way more accountability in all of this than just, as
       | Zuckerberg said 'Senator, we sell ads'.
        
         | tuatoru wrote:
         | > Tech has yet to go through it's 'industrialization' phase
         | where one of the main advents was replaceable/interchangeable
         | parts.
         | 
         | Not going to happen without legislation. Maybe not even with
         | it.
         | 
         | Industrial standardization was driven by the US Army around and
         | after the time of the Civil War. The Army wanted rifle parts to
         | be replaceable by any spare of the same type, not only those
         | from the same batch as the gun.
         | 
         | There is no large single buyer with "social" apps, and the
         | incentives for vendors are to try to lock in their customers.
        
         | kitkat_new wrote:
         | That's why instant messaging needs open standards like Matrix,
         | which make switching apps and provider a nobrainer, because it
         | almost wouldn't matter which one you would loose.
         | 
         | Additionally, only one of many service proviers would be
         | seriously affected if a service goes down.
         | 
         | matrix.org
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-04 23:01 UTC)