9781422277331

L ike many good inventions, the concept behind WhatsApp was forged out of necessity, rather than a desire to simply make money. WhatsApp was originally imagined by Jan Koum, who emigrated from communist Ukraine (left) at age 16. Unlike in the United States, which enjoys freedom of expression and speech, Koum’s homeland was a place of suspicion. Phones could be tapped and friends and neighbors questioned for calling out politicians or engaging in activities thought to be counter to the interests of the government. As a result, people were careful with their communications. Koum and his mother, who had left family behind in the Ukraine, had another problem back in those days—calling overseas was prohibitively

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

archaic out of date, old-fashioned dot-com bubble a period of time in the early 2000s when many high- value internet companies lost value in a short period of time emigrated left one country to live in another heyday a period of high success, usually in the past prohibitively so high as to be unreachable or impossible revenue money earned by a company for goods or services

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