Hacker News Reader

See also: Compuserve, AOL, Facebook

WeChat succeeds because it caters to a less mature market with a simple integrated product. American network service users have demonstrated repeatedly that they are OK with bundling products but less enthusiastic about bundled services.

View on HN

WeChat succeeds because it's a state sponsored monopoly. It would not have existed in a free and mature market in any western capitalist style economy.

I just gave 3 examples of products that succeeded brilliantly in a less mature market in western capitalist economies. WeChat might be an anachronism in 15 years just as AOL is today, although it continues to exist as a brand.

Incidentally I just glanced at the AOL website to remind myself how it's doing, and their ad banner offers a service to reduce the amount of paper junk mail you receive by signing up for AOL's managed unsubscription service. Less Information Age and more Irony Age.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com