One can also use voice recognition to send texts if talking is more appealing as an input method.
I previously thought of this as something old people do because they can't type on a phone, but I tried it, and it does provide a more rapid, conversational way of creating text.
I already see support and customer service offered through WhatsApp or emphasizing chat/email. The switch doesn't have to be frictionless, it just has to be less painful than spam. It doesn't need to happen all at once, either. We're already seeing early adopters walk away from PSTN, so unless they can fix the spam situation before the alternatives hit an inflection point, PSTN is doomed.
I'm sure it will live on in many places that aren't concerned with customer satisfaction, though.
Let's give Facebook full control over worlds communication? And allow them to cut people off from communicating with anyone? I don't think it's great idea.
Yes, there are downsides to federation, but I would argue spam is not inherent to federated communication.
There are many ideas to stop spam like proof of work.
Main reason for spam in email and PSTN is legacy protocols, which were created long time ago and cannot be significantly improved without breaking compatibility.
> As someone with a heavy background, it would break a fair bit of the PSTN
As it stands, I think quite a few consumers are ready to just walk away from PSTN unless something pretty drastic is done quite soon.