Imagine if each email client could only send messages to people using the same client. I might like gmail, but if my boss liked outlook I’d have to use that. The fragmented system would cause email to have fraction of the value. If that seems hard to imagine, consider how many instant messaging platforms there are. None of these platforms exchange messages between themselves, despite large investments. The value of communication technology lies in network effects, so it seems strange that this continues to be the case.