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Comment by coffeedoughnuts | Hacker News Reader

I just assumed from first glance that this was an early April Fools (I guess it must be April 1st in Australia by now)

But after seeing full API docs... is this real? I'm so confused!

A corollary from William Gibson's famous quote, "The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed.", is that just because you're living in the future where you, and all your friends have smartphones, doesn't mean that everyone does.

In fact, there are huge swaths of people that don't even have broadband Internet access, even in the US, even using the FCC's antiquated definition of broadband of 2 Megabit. Meanwhile, I can get 20 Mbit with my cellphone on 4G LTE on a good day.

Be careful when extrapolating from things you don't use because it doesn't necessarily follow that others don't.

I got a snotty reply from someone at Twilio when I suggested it might be an April Fool's joke on Twitter.

Amazon prime buttons were announced on 3/31/15 or 4/1/15 (I forget which date it was) and I remember a bunch of buzz around my office wondering if it was an April Fool's stunt or not. I don't really see the harm in waiting a few days to launch some kind of new/potentially unbelievable product so you don't do it on 4/1, since the internet tends to go nuts on that day.

There is a TON of faxing still going on

It seems like it actually isn't, though this was my first thought too: https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/31/twilio-now-lets-developers...

(I'm glad 1st April is a Saturday this year so I can mostly not be near a computer for it to avoid the intensely twee irritation of it all.)

I'm guessing it's an American thing. I think they still use checks too.

I was in New Jersey once and was trying to catch a cab to a hotel. I had no US cash and needed to use credit card. Cabs in New Jersey apparently don't accept credit card. At the airport I had to buy a check for $10 or $15 at a machine using my credit card. When I reached my destination I filled out the check for the driver. It was linked to my credit card and charged later on.

In the US, checks are free; wire transfers cost money. Yes, that's annoying.

[edit]

Even stranger, I can go online and have my bank mail a check to anywhere in the US for free. It's $20 to send it directly to someone's bank account.

The concept of mailing pieces of paper as a way to pay bills is so strange to me. Fore reference, I'm in my mid thirties and have never used a check in my life. I remember my mom used them when I was very young, but I don't think I've even seen one in about thirty years.

You've never taken piano lessons or bought Girl Scout cookies or paid rent, have you.

No, don't have them here, and yes I have, but bills like rent go straight to my online bank.

My daughters' troop sold about 2000 boxes, and I don't recall seeing any checks this year. Almost all either cash or credit-card.

The API docs seem really elaborate for a April Fools joke. Plus if I sign into my account I can see all the new UI elements that talk about.

Why not both?

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