With 500 million users, second only to QQ, where did Fetion go?

Suddenly I remembered Fetion, which was very popular for a while. Have you used it? At that time, WeChat was not yet born, and QQ was at its peak. Mobile phones are still dominated by Nokia, Steve Jobs is not dead yet, and Apple has just released its first generation. Fetion was born, seamlessly connecting the mobile network and the Internet. At most, it had 500 million users. Schools, companies, and organizations all used Fetion to send notifications. However, 10 years have passed and many people no longer know what Fetion is.

In 2007, China Mobile revolutionized its own life and launched Fetion to replace text messages, which was as fierce as a strong man cutting off his wrist. People can send text messages to any mobile phone number for free on a computer or mobile phone client. If the other party is not online, they will receive it as a text message. Fetion was at its peak in 2010, with 90 million active users.

However, Fetion made a fatal mistake, which later gave WeChat an opportunity to take advantage. In order to crack down on China Unicom and Telecom, China Mobile directly blocked other operators. Only mobile phone numbers could communicate with Fetion. As a result, many China Unicom and Telecom users could not receive Fetion notifications from the organization and had to switch to mobile numbers. China Mobile thought it had a smart strategy, but it didn't know that it was already surrounded by dangers, which ultimately gave WeChat an opportunity to take advantage.

At that time, QQ was the only instant messaging tool. After Fetion was launched, it threatened to steal Tencent’s 20 users, which made Tencent afraid. In addition, the popularity of iPhone 4 later made everyone see the power of the mobile Internet, so Tencent was forced to make an important decision: to create a new software. Instead of waiting to be fucked to death by others, it's better to fuck yourself to death. Ever since, WeChat came into being.

WeChat was launched in 2011 and focuses on voice chat. This fresh joke made WeChat famous in one fell swoop. Coupled with QQ's huge user backlog, in less than two years, WeChat became basically popular in 2013, reaching 355 million users. Later, WeChat added the function of public accounts, killing mobile newspapers; adding "Shake" and "Drift Bottle" to connect strangers to socialize. After repeated version updates, WeChat has now become a huge social and educational system. From communications, media, wallets to tools and applets, WeChat has become an indispensable network entrance for 900 million users.

Fetion has been going from bad to worse since the advent of WeChat. Until June 30 this year, China Mobile announced that the SMS to Fetion service was offline. This basically meant that Fetion was dead. Chatting could only be done if both parties were online with Fetion. Then, how many people still have Fetion on their phones?

The rise and fall of Fetion has witnessed an era in which networks are getting faster and faster from 2G, 3G, 4G to wireless wifi; mobile phones are becoming more and more advanced from functional, semi-intelligent machines to fully intelligent. With the development of mobile communications, many things in life and work are linked to the Internet. Even buying groceries requires using WeChat and Alipay. Life has become more convenient, but the time we have to experience life is getting less and less every month. I look at my mobile phone while eating and walking, completely unable to appreciate every detail of life itself.

Looking back at the past, time flies and I am filled with emotions. These ten years of rapid development of communication technology are also the ten years of transition and growth between the tail of the 80s and the prelude of the 90s. From the green years to the thirties, from the floral girl to the OA girl, from the white T-shirt senior to the idler, people who have now been conquered by life Do you still miss the simple past?

When housing prices, buying cars, getting married and having children became the main theme, I suddenly missed the bunk bed that cost 800 yuan and could live in it for a year. When information, news, and free push notifications are flying all over the sky, I suddenly want to look through the text message that I haven't deleted in three years. Unfortunately, I have changed my phone N times and I can't find it. And you? Miss it?