Messaging Systems
Messaging Systems
A Venn Diagram is shown, framed in a box. It has three components:
Vaguely Modern, E2E Encrypted, Supported By Everyone
Items Solely in the Vaguely Modern category are:
Facebook Messenger, Hangouts, Discord, Various DMs
Items In both 'Vaguely Modern' and 'E2E Encrypted' categories are:
Signal, iMessage, Whatsapp
Items Solely in the E2E Encrypted category are:
PGP Email, Various Obscure Projects, Skype I think, XMPP and XMPP + XEP-0384: OMEMO
Items Solely in the 'Supported By Everyone' category is:
SMS
All other categories are empty.
[Caption below the comic]: Why SMS refuses to die

Messaging systems suffer from the network effect , as in order to communicate, both parties need to be using the same system.
Though relatively ancient by modern standards, SMS is supported by almost every mobile device (unless you're using a kosher phone or still on a DynaTAC ) that has a phone number attached, which means if you want to send a message to someone, but aren't sure if you have a messaging protocol in common, you can be sure at least they have SMS.
The comic mentions many other communication systems, which offer various advantages in either security ( end to end encryption ) and or a bunch of general improvements filed under the label "vaguely modern", such as longer character limits and the ability to share media such as images in-service.
The messaging systems are shown in a Venn Diagram , with the categories corresponding to these three advantages. The intersections between the categories are very minimal: there are a few systems that have both E2E encryption and are modern, but no intersections with "supported by everyone", and SMS is the only system in that category. So when choosing a method of communication, you're usually faced with a compromise.
The title text proposes an alternative, absurd mingling of technologies in the vein of 1636: XKCD Stack . IRC is Internet Relay Chat, a similarly antiquated messaging service that may also never die, as suggested in 1782: Team Chat . Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a layer of networking software that provides encrypted communication. DOSBox is an emulator that recreates the operating environment of MS-DOS ; part of the absurdity is that DOSBox is intended almost solely for video games. Additionally, this hodgepodge of technologies is running in a mobile browser, instead of a dedicated server or machine.
Various other comics have referenced the issue of chat services, including 1810: Chat Systems , 1254: Preferred Chat System , and 1782: Team Chat .
Slack
Facebook Messenger
Hangouts
Discord
Various DMs
End-to-end encryption refers to messaging systems where only the communicating users can read the messages posted. In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including telecom providers , internet providers , and even the provider of the communication service – from being able to access the cryptographic keys needed to decrypt the conversation.
PGP Email
Various Obscure Projects
Skype I Think
XMPP ( Jabber + TLS )
Signal
iMessage
WhatsApp
SMS
RCS (Rich Communication Services) is a more modern protocol, aimed at replacing SMS and MMS protocols. RCS support has been slow to rollout among cellular carriers, due to their preference for proprietary implementations and monetizable usage tracking and/or gatekeeping. Like SMS and MMS, RCS is a federated network, wherein failure of one provider's systems is unlikely to result in a total system outage. The single-provider messaging networks of other widely used systems (such as those mentioned on this page) can experience system-wide outages that prevent all users from communicating via them at all; this has happened multiple times for both Signal and Discord, among others. For this reason, single-provider networks are intrinsically more prone to total system outages than federated networks.
The long-standing interoperability of SMS+MMS networks is difficult (if not impossible) to match in terms of communicating with a maximum number of people, and maintaining functionality for other users when one provider experiences an outage.
A Venn Diagram is shown, framed in a box. It has three components:
Vaguely Modern, E2E Encrypted, Supported By Everyone
Items Solely in the Vaguely Modern category are:
Facebook Messenger, Hangouts, Discord, Various DMs
Items In both 'Vaguely Modern' and 'E2E Encrypted' categories are:
Signal, iMessage, Whatsapp
Items Solely in the E2E Encrypted category are:
PGP Email, Various Obscure Projects, Skype I think, XMPP and XMPP + XEP-0384: OMEMO
Items Solely in the 'Supported By Everyone' category is:
SMS
All other categories are empty.
[Caption below the comic]: Why SMS refuses to die
