Don't Ask Me Stupid Questions

I always tell people who warn me that they’re about to ask a stupid question, that there’s no such thing as a stupid question. But when a computer asks me a stupid question, I show no mercy. One of the many chat clients installed on my iPhone – WeChat – recently asked me a supremely stupid question.

Stupid may be a bit harsh, but this (automated) message I got from the WeChat Team has a misguided focus. The WeChat Team wants me to get excited about all the new features in version 5.4, yet my initial reaction when I saw this message was, “Am I on version 5.4?” Turns out I already was, but I still got a message asking me if I had upgraded. And WeChat knows I had already upgraded because the client-side app could very easily notify their servers of the app version running on my phone.

The message could’ve been more like “You’re riding in WeChat 5.4. It has all these awesome features we think you should use right now!” And if I wasn’t on 5.4, the messaging could’ve been more encouraging for me to upgrade: “WeChat 5.4 has a ton of awesome features; upgrade today to gain access to all of them and your life will be a million times more awesome!”

Alas, a missed opportunity…