Top all-time · #5988
TextIt
Company blog · blog.textit.instartupsbusiness
TextIt is the company blog at blog.textit.in, writing about startups and business. Since 2013, 13 different Hacker News readers have linked it 16 times, most often “Your Path to a $16B exit? Build a J2ME App”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Too few sampled comments (9) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers cite this post as the source for the claim that WhatsApp's reach came from its J2ME support for old handsets, and for advice that RDS storage is cheaper than provisioned IOPS under 3k.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 9 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
TextIt powers SMS, voice and app-based messaging for the world's biggest non-profits, universities, care teams and businesses. No app to install. Works on any phone.
Most-linked posts?
- Your Path to a $16B exit? Build a J2ME App9 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2014-02-20
- Why buying Provisioned IOPS on RDS may be a mistake2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2015-04-07
What Hacker News says?
Still struggling to figure out why it's so popular. I read the other article[1] on the front page suggesting that the reason for the popularity is that the app works on low end handsets. But then so does SMS. Is the design of WhatsApp so much better than built in SMS, or is it just the fact that WhatsApp is free? [For me and most people I know SMS is virtually free, but I guess that's not the case around the world]…
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs”Submitted Your Path to a $16B exit? Build a J2ME App as a story · 489 points
HN discussionI think HN #2[0] article at the moment just answered my question. J2ME is the key, I can see that. [0] http://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-...
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs”Submitted Building a Software Company in Rwanda, 3 Years Later as a story · 123 points
HN discussionhttp://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-...
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “Browserling goes viral with cheap phone users trying to use WhatsApp”Submitted TextIt Goes Open Source as a story · 39 points
HN discussionhttp://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-...
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “The mystery of the power bank phone taking over Ghana”Submitted Why Buying Provisioned IOPS on RDS Might Be a Mistake as a story · 5 points
HN discussionI read somewhere that supporting "ancient" mobiles via j2me was the reason WhatsApp got the advantage over other chat apps. Yes, they (did) put a lot of effort in supporting j2me phones. EDIT: found source: http://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-...
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “The Story of Firefox OS”Submitted Why buying Provisioned IOPS on RDS may be a mistake as a story · 5 points
HN discussionIt certainly did have http://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-...
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “The Story of Firefox OS”Submitted Leveraging SMS for Government Service Reform as a story · 2 points
HN discussionFor RDS, it is much cheaper to pay for more storage than more IOPS, at least if you are under 3k IOPS. IE, you will save a bundle if you are currently buying 3k provisioned IOPS vs just paying for 1 TB of storage. More here: http://blog.textit.in/why-buying-provisioned-iops-on-rds-may...
Comment linking /why-buying-provisioned-iops-on-rds-may-be-a-mistake
on “Ask HN: How did you significantly reduce your AWS cost?”Submitted Thoughts on SMS in the developing world and beyond. as a story · 1 points
HN discussion>Please guys. Use TextSecure. Believe me, I would love to. But I don't have an Android phone, and even if I did, not all my contacts have one. The reason WhatsApp is so popular is exactly this, it just works and it works on all mobile platforms.[1] [1] http://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-...
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “Breaking Half of the Telegram Contest”There was a prior article attributing J2ME to Whatapp's success: http://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-... , discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7269258
Comment linking /your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-app
on “The Practicality of J2ME Applications”
