15 years ago I had ONE messaging app that logged me into MSN, ICQ, QQ, Zephyr, Gtalk, Yahoo, AIM, Facebook, and Renren.

On that one messaging app I had either written or downloaded plugins for:

* End-to-end encryption (receiver needed the plugin as well)

* Automatic two-way human language translation via online translation APIs so I could have a conversation with someone who didn't share a common language with me

* Automatic two-way conversion between simplified and traditional Chinese. (I can read both, but traditional is faster for me, so I had it auto-translate all simplified to traditional for me, as well as auto-translate all of my outgoing traditional to simplified on a per-user basis for the receiver's convenience.)

* Ability to create conversation groups across networks, with my account serving as a gateway.

* Automatic rendering of in-line LaTeX math equations.

* Controlling of IOT devices, and allowing access to my dorm room for guests by having them send me an instant message with a certain secret word.

* Cloud-based logs of all of my messages.

* Online gateway that allowed me to access all my message logs from anywhere on any device and any OS with a web browser.

I feel like we've gone backwards. I now have a dozen different closed-protocol, walled-garden messaging apps, some of them even actively try to PUNISH you for trying to decompile and edit them, translation is not automatic, cloud logs only exist on Facebook messenger, E2E encryption is skeptically touted and paraded as some new thing even though I personally had real open-source E2E encryption 15 years ago on ALL my messengers, and everyone is siloed into their own apps and there is no way to send messages across networks.

Sigh. Tech in 2021 sucks. I honestly felt my messaging was way more advanced 15 years ago.