Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the trains running

Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by sandworm101 on Thursday January 12, 2023 @11:24AM (#34355938)

Until whatsapp dies. Subway systems run for decades. Can anyone really trust that any particular app will still be around in twenty years? Or two? For critical infrastructure you need something stable, something like a part of the RF spectrum dedicated to critical infrastructure. This is why cops/pilots/ships still have dedicated radios even though some combination of cell/satellite phones would certainly be much cheaper in the short term.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by closewith on Thursday January 12, 2023 @11:43AM (#34356350)

Huge amounts of the world de facto run on WhatsApp, including essential services like healthcare, emergency services, finance, etc. WhatsApp going down or shutting down is already an enormous threat.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by totalZero on Thursday January 12, 2023 @12:34PM (#34357367)

That may be true, but from an engineering perspective it's unwise to build a two-story house on a sand foundation just because the rest of the neighborhood has done so.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by hombre_fatal on Thursday January 12, 2023 @02:07PM (#34358779)

Sure, but you can say that about most solutions, especially organic bottom-up solutions, like the internet, while neglecting the upsides of it being bottom-up and organic like this system's ability to come up with its own fixes just-in-time instead of waiting for top-down decree.

FWIW, telco companies in Mexico don't charge for WhatsApp data transfer. As for prices, a 30 day Telcel 4.5GB plan is 200 pesos ($10) per month. So long as you don't use up the data doing things outside of WhatsApp, like surfing the web, which will expire the plan, then you get free WhatsApp (and Instagram and most social media) transfer for the month.

So it's not the worst organic solution and it's not even obvious how to centralize a better solution. For example, how many subway drivers are there and how much govt bureaucracy would be needed to do something like give everyone a $10 stipend for WhatsApp? Even giving each driver an extra $10 pesos per month wouldn't change anything.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by konschubert on Thursday January 12, 2023 @06:02PM (#34361501)

People will just switch to signal or whatever. It's easily mitigated.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by ilyt on Thursday January 12, 2023 @11:50AM (#34356489)

> Until whatsapp dies. Subway systems run for decades. Can anyone really trust that any particular app will still be around in twenty years? Or two? For critical infrastructure you need something stable, something like a part of the RF spectrum dedicated to critical infrastructure. This is why cops/pilots/ships still have dedicated radios even though some combination of cell/satellite phones would certainly be much cheaper in the short term.

The radios of those are outside. The radios of subway are underground. It's not great for radios, requires infrastructure, and phones solve it in same way, by having infrastructure close to cover for reduced range.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by renewiltord on Thursday January 12, 2023 @12:33PM (#34357355)

Well, they're using dedicated radios now and they're broken so that's clearly not a solution. So when WhatsApp breaks, you just say "Okay, we're using DopeyMsg, the new messaging tool everyone is using" or whatever.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by nemothekid on Thursday January 12, 2023 @01:26PM (#34358154)

>Until whatsapp dies. Subway systems run for decades.

Then you upgrade? There's nothing that precludes that the bespoke system won't die and by the looks of it the current system has already died leading to the use of Whatsapp.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by cultofmetatron on Thursday January 12, 2023 @02:19PM (#34358936)

> Until whatsapp dies.

it wouldn't be that expensive to make your own app that sends and receives messages over 4g.

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by phyrex on Thursday January 12, 2023 @08:59PM (#34363040)

Right, foolish Meta paid $19.0 billion for it when they could’ve had an intern hack it up on the weekend

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Re:Mexico’s subway drivers depend on WhatsApp to keep the tr... by anaganisk on Thursday January 12, 2023 @03:39PM (#34359953)

Switch to telegram when whtsapp dies or one of the gazillion alternatives.

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