>I have no idea how many missed social calls I had from people in college organizing social lives via group texts that I never got, and they never knew I didn't get because there was zero indication on either end that it wasn't delivered.

That is what forced me away from GV a few years back. It is an unforgivable flaw of a communication product for messages to completely disappeared from the system without any party knowing. The fact that Google was comfortable with that flaw for years tells you all you need to know about their commitment to these kind of products. It will take years of updates like this before I start to believe that any renewed commitment will stick.