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FreebieWHATSAPP IS SCRAPPING its annual subscription fee and will instead focus on connecting businesses with users.
When WhatsApp first launched, it was a paid app before offering the first year free and charging €1 for additional years.
Now its CEO Jan Koum told the DLD conference in Munich it will get rid of this and allow users to sign up for free. Those who paid the subscription this year will get a refund over time.
According to Re/Code, the app has ruled out the possibility of introducing third-party ads on its service. It would instead look at ways businesses can connect with individuals while avoiding spam and unwanted advertising, similar to the approach Facebook Messenger is taking.
It detailed the ways the service could be used.
That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight. We all get these messages elsewhere today – through text messages and phone calls – so we want to test new tools to make this easier to do on WhatsApp, while still giving you an experience without third-party ads and spam.
When asked why they decided to scrap the fee, Koum said it was because it added barriers for some users who hadn’t access to a credit card, mainly those who live in developing countries.
Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg was famously quoted as saying products aren’t interesting until they have a billion users back in 2014 and the move suggests it’s close to this point.
Wired mentions it’s now at 990 million monthly active users and Koum was hoping to announce a billion today.
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I miss 1p sweets :(
Are you the same Martin Bishop from the movie Sneakers?
And 1/2p sweets, 10p got you loads in the shop :)
That would be 5 or 10 sweets Mary!
10p got you 20 half p sweets
Thought we were taking about 1p and 2p here. Half penny died out years ago
Embarrassing!
How much are dem ones?
3 of them ones, 7 of them ones, 12 of them ones, 8 of them ones, 2 big gob stoppers and a lucky bag please.
no no no 4 of them ones, 6 of them ones, 9 of them ones, 12 of them ones, 2 big gob stoppers a lucky bag and black jack bar please.
no no no.. wait. 2 of them ones, 5 of them ones…..
shopkeeper: GET OUT YA LITTLE SH$#E!!!
Lmao chief!!
Makes cents…..I’ll get my coat!!
Makes 5 cents, get with the programme, we are rounding now.
Great idea, let’s go to coppers to celebrate.
If everyone in Ireland posts me their 1c and 2c coins i’d gladly take them off their hands.
You’re going to pay me that billion in coppers?
eh um its in the post.
I don’t live in Dublin but what you like me to do to you in Coppers?
In copper coins. Your second comment might have been funny if not for your first.
Yeah you’re right. f****d up.
Works in Australia very well
1 cent = 1 Peanut
Won’t be able to jam up the Tesco self service counter now with 1c coins :(
Tesco self-service seems to be dishing out a large amount of copper in last few months. If you’re due say 20c change, you’re likely to get 2 x 5c, 3 x 2c and 4 x 1c instead of a 20c or even 2 x 10c .
I believe that’s called Karma.
I think they should implement it as soon as possible, the 1c and 2c coins are a nuisance.
I’d think charity boxes will suffer..??
They can make up for it by cutting directors’ perks.
Are people STILL giving money to ‘charities?
I agree
Wexford, Wicklow’s sunny cousin
Maybe we should give all our coppers to Rehab !
nah ! rehab will have enough ‘coppers’ around over the next few weeks, to last them a life time!
I will not give another cent to rehab.
This will inflate the price of everything.
It didn’t in Wexford, I found it worked well, prices were rounded up and down. Retailers were fair about it but the likes of Dunnes or Tesco didn’t take part in it, which takes from the trial a bit.
Despite the trial showing otherwise?
Only if shops start pricing in multiples of 5. Not otherwise.
The rounding, we should all remember, should occur only at the till and only for cash transactions. If they’re implementing it properly the way it was done in countries like The Netherlands and Denmark.
It didnt in Oz and was introduced years ago.
If anyone’s interested here’s a video about why 1c coins are bad for the economy.
So instead of Petrol or Diesel being 1.41 a litre it will be 1.45 instead that’s great taking more out of your pocket of the people in a secret tax and everybody is happy about it next will be removing the 5c aswell.
They really know how to give everybody a shafting and you all ask for more.
Deadly.!!!
If you bought your diesel one litre at a time and in cash, that would be true
Read the second sentence properly. The experiment was in rounding up AND down. Therefore €1.41 would become €1.40.
Oh I’ve read it and I’ve learned not believe everything thing I read.
I also remember the euro changeover if you worked for £400 it went to €400.
So you believe that business will act honourably and all the institutions will too.
How has that worked out .
Wake up and see what’s happening around you.
Vinny, it’s been said several times that the actual prices of items won’t be rounded either up or down. Its your total bill at the checkout, or pump in this case thats rounded up or down. If you tank for 65.72 you will pay 65.70, if you tank for 65.73 you would pay 65.75.
Each individual litre you put in your car is not rounded up or down. So you either win by a cent or two or lose by a cent or two. No biggie
It’s still money gone from your pocket .
No biggie is exactly what has got us where we are. letting little things slide.
Then it becomes a biggie.!!
Watch the penny’s and the £ will mind themselves .
In which case, Vinny, always make your totals come to a number ending in 2 or 7 cents. You’ll be quids in.
If it bothers you so much, pay by card where the amount on the bill is what you pay. Works that way here in the Netherlands where your bill is rounded up or down or stays the same if paying electronically.
To be honest, it sounds like you believe in nothing that you read and only in what’s in your head!
the thing is I don’t believe, facts and research not belief.
Belief is for the tooth fairy , the Easter bunny and (a bit for the holiday ) leprechauns. !!
Corporate focus on maximum profit as is their fiduciary duty .
You can talk to a man with a wooden leg but not to a man with a wooden head .
Good luck with your beliefs.
The bank charges for acting as your intermediary .!
What is money what gives it it’s value.?
if you pay by card they will take the exact number too
You’re a bit slow Vinny aren’t you?
Why round? Why not just price in 5c multiples?
Pricing at 5c multiples would see an increase in the cost of goods & services across the board, whereas rounding to the nearest 5c keeps prices as they are, and you simply either gain or lose a cent of two when paying.
Introduced to Ontario last year. A resounding success.One and two cents round down.three and four cents round up. No more minting of copper coins.the banks will always accept them
i did hear that this fell flat on its face in Wexford & caused uproar with the elderly down there as they thought they were constantly getting short changed!
personally i think it’s a great idea and has been shown to work fine in other countries but as always there are some people who dont fully understand the idea and assume that it is a scam of some sort.
Awkward that I actually did not notice this at all whenever I was in town….my bad :/
They’re a waste of time and money…
Also I’m running out of jam jars to keep them in!
Australia got rid of our 1c and 2c coins years ago, in fact the metal was used to make the bronze medals for the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Like our last government, rehab, garda commissioner, quango’s etc etc ….No Change !
They are pretty good at rounding off cash amounts down Wexford side – hello Mick Wallace.
If the € doesn’t collapse, it mightn’t be too long until we get rid of these expensive coins and print €1 & €2 notes. Small money\change could be a thing of the past as prices rise in the future.
Itz a good idea ..australia do it also .. They don’t have 1,2,or 5 c coins ..
Thay use 5cent coins, i have some in my wallet here in Sydney :)
We still have 5 cent coins(and are they annonying or what!) but looking like they will go the same way the 1 and 2 cent coins went.
Drives me mental when I am in Ireland and I get all these small coppers that are pretty useless, really.
we call them garda here marguerite !
Good one Eric!
It’s crazy to have a coin worth so little in circulation. Denmark uses the rounding on the total bill, if paying cash. The exact amount if using card. Every time I’m in Ireland I end up with a wallet full of f’ckin copper. But then Ireland still uses way too much cash for everyday things
I hope so!!
Would you prefer they gave it to Unilever? Or McDonald’s?
Now isn’t that a marvelous idea! Not exactly original but still a great idea.
Sure didn’t the Greeks do the same thing years back and look at them. Hmmm
have your say