Saved by shashaank and
The Universal Communication Bus
Chat is only the latest incarnation of human communication.
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
Merge all communication with an individual person into one continuous timeline . I’m excited about this feature. My mom still hasn’t mastered the art of using one communication channel, she prefers to sprinkle messages throughout the week across Whatsapp, SMS and email.
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
My pet theory around why business is gets done so much faster in China: because there is only one channel for everything — WeChat. No confusion about how to get in contact with someone. One scrollback to WeChat makes it easy to introduce friends to each other. Voice and video calls just work. And because the default is chat, not email, everyone... See more
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
A universal communication bus in theory does sound like the answer to solving major productivity and workflow gaps. Is this true for WeChat’s influence in China?
This is meant to be human communication. Technology needs to fade into the background, so I can simply chat with my friends, family and work colleagues. We need a universal communications bus.
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
Bounties start at $500 or more per bridge — I’ve had fun funding the Hangouts, Slack, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter bridges and pressured my friend into building one for WeChat. I still have bounties out for Line, Linkedin, Airbnb, Tinder, Gmail (getting a jump on jwz’s law), Snapchat and more. Ping me @eric:beeper.com!
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
Bounties? Can I put a bounty out too?
Matrix actually caught my attention because it solves the exact problems that I outlined above, without exacerbating everything by creating yet another chat network. See, the Matrix folks know their XKCD. Instead of creating a new siloed chat app, they enabled developers to write ‘bridges’ between Matrix and other chat networks, like Whatsapp,... See more
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
Keeping track of which networks are friends are on is a communication tax. It’s extra cognitive load on simple stuff, like remembering where my friend sent me the name of the restaurant, or thinking ‘Should I send the photo I took to her via Whatsapp, iMessage or Instagram?’
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
Most new chat apps die before they build a network. And since all the major networks are closed-source and not federated, it’s hard to hack on top of an existing network and add in just one or two new features. It’s sad that there is nothing like Gmail plugins for WhatsApp. Even Signal, an open-source chat app, enforces a ‘no-federation’ rule —... See more
Eric Migicovsky • The Universal Communication Bus
Why mainstream, corporate run chat apps don’t allow for full customised experiences.
Known caveat: sometimes the medium is the message. A postcard is noticeably more personal than an email, a phone call conveys more emotion than a text, an Instagram message is more friendly than a Linkedin message. TBD how this is works out if all chats are merged into one.