My thoughts on things in April 2025

I haven't been posting here a lot recently, but I'd like to give some thoughts regarding some things going through my mind. 

AI tools like ChatGPT

AI tools are certainly becoming more and more a thing of our daily life. Playing around with creating images, reassuring vocabulary etc. Even becoming an essential tool at work in many ways. Despite there are mistakes here and there, the development over the recent years is quite astonishing. The difficult part will be like finding the right balance.

The end of Skype

Yes, Skype is actually ending next month. I can see why since Microsoft also has Teams and maybe wants to rather focus on that. I just made the switch a few days ago, the transition was mostly flawless. It has been a long run with Skype. Especially during the last 10 years Skype while travelling and now living abroad it has been an essential tool to stay in touch with family and friends. It's the end of an era and let's see whether everyone will make the switch to Teams or rather uses alternate options.

6 more months of Updates for Windows 10

I might be a more crazy example, but I still use a Lenovo laptop which I bought almost 10 years ago. It's certainly getting slower and a reinstallation even failed when I tried a few months ago. An upgrade to Windows 11 is not even possible due to hardware limitations. So maybe it's time for a switch later this year. For work I already use Windows 11 and can see its benefits, but haven't gone too deep just yet. Still, certainly interesting that an operation system which was supposed to be the "final" Windows will no longer be supported. Will be possible lead to lots of hardware trash. I know even people who bought a new laptop in 2020/21 won't even make it through the new hardware requirements. It feels timing-wise a bit early and certainly a better date could have been found. It doesn't need to be as long as the life cycle of XP, but still not ideal - as many people certainly won't make the switch and may become an easy target. We will see if Microsoft goes through with that.

The most fun comments while IT troubleshooting calls - 2017

While doing technical IT support in a call center you sometimes face some interesting scenarios, here are a few worth mentioning:

"Is your laptop connected via cable or WiFi?"
- "Yes, the WiFi cable is connected."
It was actually both, but the user was just talking about the cable.

Or another one from another case: "Yes, the WiFi is connected with the cable..."

"Hi, I was forwarded by the ****** Bank and I need a new PIN for my credit card, I would suggest I just start with giving you my credit card number..."
- "Wait, wait,... We are only supporting employees of a certain company and don´t deal with credit cards."
The moment I missed the chance getting lots of money. Like "Ok, can you also give me your security code and the expiration date?" xD #MissedOpportunities

"So I´d like to put my phone down on the table now since I drank too much tea before..."
The user´s way to tell me that she needs to go to the toilet while I was recreating the ost file of the user´s Outlook profile...

"Ok, I need to check this internally if I should confirm clicking on this link. Thanks. Bye."
User denied confirming to download a setup file from an internal server with a 172.16.XXX.XXX address. (see screenshot above)

"Let me explain the following steps to recreate the Outlook ost file: [...], to delete the old ost files, you need to close Skype before and..." (Call stopped)
Well, the user did close Skype while I was explaining the process... so therefore, call stopped :D

Maybe also stuff your get to hear as usual, nothing new...:
"Yesterday it still worked..."
"I didn`t do anything different..."
"I tried that already.." (apparently not...xD)
"I forgot my password...."
...

Ok, now it`s getting old. Maybe some more another time. But still, as Howard Wolowitz would say: "There's two kinds of people in this world. Those who call tech support and those who make fun of the people who call tech support."

Seven things WhatsApp should improve in 2016 and beyond

WhatsApp is getting more and more users and the app has experienced a lot of improvement over the years, but there's still room for more - and these are my thoughts about what can be done and about features which are likely already in the making...

1: A better backup

I liked that they included the backup in the cloud like with Google Drive on Android devices. But unfortunately you can't see the database copy after opening the cloud folder, because it's hidden.

On the other hand you can simply just copy the database from the phone with USB, but you can't use it anywhere else. A (secured) way to open it on the computer would be great - for example something like a 'WhatsApp Database Manager', where you can add old chat histories to the current one or extracting a specific year from the database. Just a better way to manage it.

2: Video calling

Applications like Skype or FaceTime on Apple devices show how it's done. Even Facebook included it for a while. After the Whats App phone calls were introduced last year it's known that video calls will probably be added in the future.
In my view WhatsApp has a big advantage comparing to other applications: Most of the users want it simple and that's surely a part of the success of WhatsApp: No email registration and it just works with the phone number. Via Skype for example you have to find a Skype name and so on. In the 'green messenger' it'd be just one button more and the ordinary user doesn't need much explanation. That's why I fear WhatsApp video calls can be a threatening thing for the Skype phone apps...

3: More independent from the phone

The introduction of WhatsApp Web was a way in the right direction. With this new feature you are now able to use the messenger from a web browser, but it's still depending from the smartphone because it needs internet connection.
Anyway, it's a huge advantage if you want to sent files which are only found on your computer via WhatsApp. You don't have to photograph something on your PC - you can actually send it.
But I think in the future it should be less depending from the phone. For example like having the opportunity to log in via email and use it from any place. What about using the WhatsApp app on multiple devices like?
Ok, the account should still be connected with the phone number, just for having an alternate way to log in. There'll be cases where you can't use the WhatsApp-depending phone number.
Example: You know you are in a foreign country for like two months and you just want to use a prepaid card there. Now everyone needs your number, instead you were able to just add the new number to your account and communicate like before. Ok, you can convert your account to the 'new' number, but than it's just connected with that number.
Long story short: One account and the opportunity to log in via multiple ways:
Your email address, your phone number, your temporary phone number. Or even Facebook (see below).

4: Sending more different file types

WhatsApp is still limited in terms of which kind of files can be sent. Like PDFs can't be transferred at all or pictures will be comprized in a lower resolution. Both examples show room for improvement. So: Adding an option for document files would be nice- same goes for Office stuff like docx or xlsx. And about sending pictures in higher resolution they can keep the current way as standard but adding the option to sent in full resolution via checkbox would be a cool thing.
Another example: You can't sent video files properly via WhatsApp Web, you had to copy them to phone and sent them that way. Could have been easier, but WhatsApp Web is still young... :)

5: WhatsApp chat within Facebook

Many people were concerned by the time it was announced that Facebook would buy WhatsApp in terms of data privacy. Since then the user couldn't see much difference and it didn't actually happen that much. But I expect that Facebook and WhatsApp will slowly merge! Things like selecting an image in WhatsApp and an appearing option like"Share it on Facebook". Or seeing the Facebook name in the WhatsApp account information and vice versa. Will it that be wished and can give us advantages? I think at first lots of people will complain but are going to continue using it anyway. I already see the benefit of using WhatsApp as an alternate way to chat and sent things within Facebook which would be WhatsApp Web unnecessary.Will it replace the Facebook Messenger? Maybe after WhatsApp had a successful introduction of alternate ways to log in and both account information have eventually merged...

6: Better chat history export

Currently you can export the chat history as a simple txt-file via email. It's pretty colorless comparing to the app with all the different smiley badges. The images are added in the attachment of the mail.
There are third party apps where you can get a proper export as an html files, which are of course way better. But for that you have to root your phone and you need the database in a preferable older version - the current one should be in the crypt9-format. For the usual user impossible. Anyway, I hope that they are going to add this html export option soon.

7: Advanced options for Chat groups

Groups of WhatsApp chats are a great way to communicate with multiple people in a closed area, but it becomes a problem if it's overused and you have to go back to a specific date to find something - there's no clear structure. I'd like to have an option where you can select a month or even a date to go back. By now it takes a lot of time scrolling. And how about working with hashtags? Twitter started it and other platforms like Instagram or Facebook also use it by now. It would be revolutionary for WhatsApp, but it could improve searching for special messages. Also, how would it be to make polls in WhatsApp groups? For certain things, you don't have to write an answer - just select an answer about e.g. 'Who'd like to go to the cinema on Sunday night?'

What are your thoughts about these improvements? Which kind of things you'd like to change or add? Or would you prefer to keep it as it is? Let me know in the comments.