The INTERNET different in GERMANY? American reaction

Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to how the Internet is different in Germany. This was interesting!

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[JonaxII]

WhatsApp is as popular as it is because it's a cross-platform group messenger. Not locked to android or apple, can do lots of things sms can't. There are technically better options nowadays, but for that kind of service, ubiquity/availability is the number one priority, and WhatsApp as the oldest service is the app that everyone has, so changing to something with better ui or privacy makes all groups you'd need impossible, so WhatsApp stays far at the top.

[SundaysSound]

I live in Munich, our download is 934.76 Mbps (just did the speedtest). But what "patchy internet availibility" in Germany really means (at least to me) refers to the speed and coverage of internet OUTSIDE your home when you access with your mobile dataplan. And that is indeed so patchy and thus very annoying!

[Chili_]

I don't even remember the last time I sent a regular text message. It just seems like a nostalgic thing of the past to me. WhatsApp has become the norm here pretty much since the arrival of smart phones. Part of the reason is that Android phones have a much larger market share and so the apple specific messaging features aren't something you can use for texting most people. WhatsApp on the other hand is universally compatible. Also the rates for text messages were always specific to your cellphone plan and texting or calling internationally comes at a higher cost and back in the day you often still paid per message sent which was also circumvented by using WhatsApp since it just uses your regular data plan regardless where the person you call or text is located.

[Poringosa]

These cookie banners are pro consumer rights and it should be made more obvious and clear how to denie all tracking cookies in each method. Getting rid of them would be a very bad idea.(Unless you ban tracking cookies altogether)

[roamingcurious]

Just to clarify - in germany a fax is a legal document - that means signed contracts can be sent by fax and are legally binding - emails are not. This explains why govenrnment offices have fax machines. By the way, in the video you showed they were having problems with the WiFi (which is NOT the internet connection). They should get a better router. Generally proces here are VERY much cheaper that in the USA.

[becker]

Wether it be Android or iOS, almost everybody has Whatsapp. In a 2020 survey 94% said they used WhatsApp on a regular basis. nobody uses SMS anymore or the integrated default apps. I also think its is much more user friendly and just nicer to handle compared to the SMS apps that are installed by default that you use (which wouldnt work anyway here cause SMS is not free)

[vic]

It's shocking that they don't use WhatsApp when almost everybody in the world uses it. I communicate with my boss and my clients through WhatsApp, with my friends and family, I don't know what I would do without WhatsApp. And for those who wonder why WhatsApp and not a text message, I don't know in other countries but here for each message you have to pay, you can also make groups, send gifs, images etc. but I think it is useful because everyone has a WhatsApp account

[lenab]

The smartphone market in europe isn't an almost monopol of apple. And texting/iMessage is only good for apple devices. The normal messaging is quite limited. It sucks with pretty much everything else than plain text. For us it is just normal to have an extra app. It's usually the first app to install on a new phone. Good thing is that it's accessible for almost everyone because it runs on every smartphone equally. Even cheap /old ones. In the US you almost have to have an iPhone.

Edit: almost monopol is too strong. I looked up the markest share now and it's "only" roundabout 55%.
That leads me to the question: How can americans without an iPhone not use a third party messaging service? I mean normal SMS an MMS is pretty shitty, isn't it?

[kirschdiebin]

Almost everyone who has friends in other countries uses WhatsApp, also people from the US. Maybe it depends on where you live in the US or how international your work and daily life is.but when you travel a lot and you’re in countries all over the world, you know and use WhatsApp.

[Pleasure]

If you want to know why people use WhatsApp in Germany, it started when most kids / teenagers had prepaid cash on their phone, and most people had to pay around 20 cent for each sms. They did however mostly all had a internet Flatrate. So to get around paying for each message they used WhatsApp, which sends messages over the internet so you did not pay anything other than your internet flatrate. Moreover WhatsApp added the ability to see if your friend is online, or even send voice messages.
I think another reason is that most people here do not have an iphone but instead use Android phones.

[kontraproduktiv]

Also a German here, living in a small village of 500 people 30 minutes away from any city and i have 250/40 internet and it is also delivered. Regarding Cooky banner, it is important for me to select if i give consent or not because of privacy concerns. If they are annoying then there are browser extension for firefox and chromium-base which always will accept or decline them automatically.

[YuliaHadassahK]

I assumed WhatsApp was widely known and used. It's preferable to texts because you can also send photos and videos, voice messages & make international phone calls for free - which is invaluable to people like myself who live far away from their family, and to be honest, it's still great for sharing things with people you see regularly. Many workplaces, sports groups etc. also use it because you can create chats with multiple people and that way keep everyone up to date rather than having to text them individually. It seems odd to me that it's not used in America... What do you use instead?

[jessali_]

A few years ago, a lot of YouTube was actually geoblocked in Germany (up until the end of 2016). All videos that contained music and all VEVO videos (even if they didn't have music in them) were blocked and they didn't even turn up in the YouTube search. The reason for this was a dispute between Google and GEMA, which licenses music in Germany. Needless to say, I used a VPN before it was cool lol.

[victoriabill]

Hmm...I was really surprised by the supposed slow internet in germany, because my internet is insanely fast...then he mentioned that Cologne (Köln) had 80% fibre optic cables...And I live in Cologne...So that may be the case 😅
Also, I thought WhatsApp existed everywhere...it's like the main way we text in Germany, we hardly ever use regular texts, since texting using WhatsApp only requires an internet connection and is free otherwise, so no additional costs occur. 🤷🏼‍♀️ - But yeah, the cookie pop-ups can be annoying, but they are incredibly important and make me feel more comfortable, because I DO want to reject them. So it's important to have the option, and be able to protect oneself.

[MaskedBishop]

SMS feel a bit old-fashioned now, but are also more expensive than Whatsapp messages unless you have a flatrate. I learnt somewhere that many Americans use preinstalled messaging apps on Apple devices, but here Apple has the image of being overpriced (I think that too). Their fans usually pay for the brand, not the device, and you have to be able to afford that to begin with. So most people I know have Android phones.

[HopeeInk]

It’s actually mind blowing every time, that people wouldn’t use WhatsApp on other parts of the worlds. But also we had an exchange student from Korea and they asked me for my Kakao and with my friends in Japan I use Line. And I remember back in the days, when my extended family (mostly living in Belgium and France) bullied me into downloading Viber (feels like that one died down, lol). Texting is really quite different depending on your country.

[anonakkor]

ngl this was a shock for me when i found out people doesn`t use whatsapp in other countries hahaha

[tarwod]

Many people already wrote about the advantages of messenger Apps like WhatsApp. Another is the ability to do video calls no matter which device the other person owns. And if you are on vacation in a country outside the EU you simply need a moderate Wifi connection to still do video calls or send photos and videos you‘ve taken.

[MugiwaraRuffy]

In my opnion: One should not (neccessarily) mix up "the internet" VS "the state of digitalisation of society"
As an example of Geoblocking. If I wanted to watch a on-demand stream of content from a certain U.S. network (a popular TV show for example), I may be denied access for playing that video. Just because I am not located in the U.S. but in Germany IP wise.

[Tenbrock]

The main reason why Germany is lagging behind with network expansion is probably the different standard of the infrastructure. While in other countries a fiber optic cable is simply nailed to a wooden mast, in Germany the lines are laid invisibly underground. It costs.