WhatApps? No Thanks.
Yup, WhatsApp is being purchased by Facebook for $19 Billion. What is WhatsApp? It's just a messaging application that also handles SMS/MMS. It is Free.99 for the first year for all users then $0.99 for consecutive years. Google was reported to have offered WhatsApp $1 billion last year.
So the question is: Why? Facebook has a competing messaging service that recently added the integration of SMS/MMS. Everyone is talking about the 450 million WhatsApp users; has everyone forgotten that Facebook has over a billion users? The growth of WhatsApp is quite impressive though. While Zuckerberg has said the two companies will operate separately, it's hard to see the two will remain separate in the long time (but people are paying for WhatsApp).
What is attractive about WhatsApp from other services? You don't have to sign up since it connects it with your phone number.
Other than that one feature, I don't see any advantage that other messaging services have. Maybe since the company's sole purpose is messaging, it's easier for users to understand its function? Services like Google Hangout and Facebook Messenger accomplish all the things that WhatsApp does but for free. And the existing user base is much bigger in these platforms.
Other services provide a more functionality and convenience. Facebook and Google's services extend to the PCs and offer video chatting. And I already have the Google/Facebook accounts of the people I really care to communicate with. I'm not going to force/convince them to install WhatsApp; I don't see any advantage to the application. I think Google and Facebook should promote their services more efficiently instead of relying on their brand loyalty.
But there are aspects of messaging services that can be improved. It would be great to have an application that stores SMS/MMS message and allows users to view them across various platforms. It would be extremely convenient to be able to respond to those SMS/MMS messages from any platform (e.g. desktop) as a SMS/MMS remotely.