Back on topic - I can only see it adding to confusion if someone has to use two separate text messaging apps and remember who has an iOS device and who doesn't. Even if they were to develop an Android app (really?!) it still excludes too many people.
Maybe i just don't have many friends - but I've got about 7 people i text constantly with an iphone and about 3 who don't. My solution = buy a Touch in September, cancel my unlimited messaging (on my non-smart phone) which costs 13 dollars a month. Touch pays for itself in just over a year, and yeah, I carry 2 things around with me but I can still text for 50c a message for those that don't have iOS devices.
Apple needs to release an Android client for this. Too many people I know do not have iPhones.
There are several apps in the android market app store that allow this sort of communication already. They also allow it between different OSs, so I am sure you will find something in the apple app store to communicate with them. Use iMessage for iPhone friends and another service for android friends.
One thing is for sure, the carriers will find some way to make up for lost funds from this. I am surpirised that some of them haven't offered their own cloud services by now.
The carriers might have been surprised by iMessage but they got some really good news today. The availability of over the air syncing and updates means that the average user will be using a lot more data than they do today. Locking people into higher tier data plans means more guaranteed income every month.
That is a really good point. As I was watching the Keynote I was thinking "Wow! That is going to be a lot of bandwidth" (data is quite expensive in my country).
The carriers will still get their pound of flesh. Still, some excellent features demoed today!
Here in the UK we get unlimited free texts on all plans with o2 so this is less exciting over here. What I don't get is do you now have two messaging apps on iPhone, iMessage and Messages both with the same icon, or are they merged?
It's nice to see some real pressure on SMS. I might be able to cancel my SMS plan by the time I need to re-up my subscription, because everybody I regularly message will be on iOS by then.
I think this is a more US-centric problem. In Austria for instance you can get a 19?/month plan that includes 1,000 free sms and 2,1000 free voice minutes (and you only get the minutes billed when you actively call someone).
As long as you are selecting a plan that includes a good number of sms I don't think the carriers make a lot of money with sms in Europe.
So resistance from the carriers from our side of the pond could be quiet minimal.
Hmmmm....so if what Gruber says is true (yeah ok), how does he plan to text his "sources" who don't use iOS devices? I thought this was iOS communication only???
Look, I don't have an SMS plan and never had one. TextFree originally could only send messages to other Textfree users. Sound familiar. If the only people that Gruber wants to text are using iOS devices, then he'll be fine, just like I was. I pretty much only text my wife.
For the extremely infrequent occasions where I wanted to text someone else, I paid the 20 cents. The most I've ever paid was maybe a buck and that beats the heck out of even $5/month.
Just because you text a lot of different people doesn't mean he does.
I am an iPhone user with iPhone-using family and friends. But not ALL of them use iPhones. I (and I would think he) would still want the ability to text those people.
Also, don't forget that iMessages can work over Wi-Fi and bypass the carriers altogether. I don't think they will be THAT upset. Unless Apple makes it an open standard that other phones could use. Now that would be sweet.
I've never had a text plan and when TextFree only worked with other Textfree users, I still didn't. For the occasional non-textfree user, I paid the 20cents and still came out ahead month instead of paying even the $5/month of the cheapest plan.
If the majority of his texts are to iOS users, just like the majority of mine were and still are to my wife, he'll be find, just like I am.
Any messaging system that is an alternative to SMS is welcome, iOS or otherwise. It's called competition. Now that Apple isn't carrier-tied, they can do more for us.
Apple is trying to lock in people to their architecture.....just like Google is. This is starting to get dangerous.
Yeah, Apple is trying to get people to buy their products and not something else. Can't have THAT.
(Of course, if you were calm and rational, you'd understand that there are many options for messaging outside the Apple ecosystem. But why be rational when you can be hysterical?)
Just to clarify a little about it's functionality and why 3rd party apps aren't quite the same.
iMessages replaces your SMS app. In some apple magical way it detects that the number (or email in the iPad's case) is enabled for iMessages. I'm guessing in the same way as facetime works using your number as your ID. If this is available the text you send will be sent as an iMessage and display in the app as blue. If this isn't the case or if the iMessage can't be delivered for whatever reason the SMS system takes over.
This is all completely transparent to the user (other than messages being blue rather than green). If the bubbles weren't blue you wouldn't even know until you got your bill at the end of the month and saw how much fewer sms's are being sent on your plan.
This is killer. You can turn it off for sure and go back to SMS but why would you. It's not like you have to change anything you are currently doing.
Oh, yeah. That's happening this side of 1994, that's for sure.
The idea behind iMessage is that in less than a year, too many people you know won't have anything but iOS devices.
Listen to me. Apple has given everyone on the planet free infinite texting.
If that doesn't instantly appeal to the younger scene, I don't know what does.
Seriously, I really don't know what appeals to kids these days. Do they still text out the wazoo? Then their parents will buy them iOS devices so they don't have to pay out the ear for texting plans. And then they'll get them for themselves so they can message back and forth.
Free text. Images. Video. FREE. INFINITE. The carriers are dead.
Seriously? You act like this is new. People with BBs have had this for years and the carriers are alive and well.
Seriously? You act like this is new. People with BBs have had this for years and the carriers are alive and well.
There are no differences in utility between iMessage and BBM? I'm not well versed in BBM so I'm honestly asking, but from what I can tell iMessage uses Apple's messaging servers, like FaceTime, but then uses open protocol standards for the service.
On top of that it looks like iMessage has NAT that will allow not just Apple's cellphones, but all their other products to connect to each other as if they are same. Does BBM have the rich media option and letting you know when someone is typing? Is BBM even an IP service?
I think this is a more US-centric problem. In Austria for instance you can get a 19?/month plan that includes 1,000 free sms and 2,1000 free voice minutes (and you only get the minutes billed when you actively call someone).
As long as you are selecting a plan that includes a good number of sms I don't think the carriers make a lot of money with sms in Europe.
So resistance from the carriers from our side of the pond could be quiet minimal.
Yea because we here in the states don't pay for stuff that's free.
There are no differences in utility between iMessage and BBM? I'm not well versed in BBM so I'm honestly asking, but from what I can tell iMessage uses Apple's messaging servers, like FaceTime, but then uses open protocol standards for the service.
On top of that it looks like iMessage has NAT that will allow not just Apple's cellphones, but all their other products to connect to each other as if they are same. Does BBM have the rich media option and letting you know when someone is typing? Is BBM even an IP service?
Yes it does tell you when the other party is typing. It's routed through RIMs servers, there's no character limit, one can send pics, videos and audio files over it. The biggest advantage Apple has is the ability for all IOS devices to use the service. I'm pretty sure the Playbook does not support BBM.
Comments
It's for all iOS devices...
Yeah sorry that's what I meant but misspoke.
Back on topic - I can only see it adding to confusion if someone has to use two separate text messaging apps and remember who has an iOS device and who doesn't. Even if they were to develop an Android app (really?!) it still excludes too many people.
Maybe i just don't have many friends - but I've got about 7 people i text constantly with an iphone and about 3 who don't. My solution = buy a Touch in September, cancel my unlimited messaging (on my non-smart phone) which costs 13 dollars a month. Touch pays for itself in just over a year, and yeah, I carry 2 things around with me but I can still text for 50c a message for those that don't have iOS devices.
Apple needs to release an Android client for this. Too many people I know do not have iPhones.
There are several apps in the android market app store that allow this sort of communication already. They also allow it between different OSs, so I am sure you will find something in the apple app store to communicate with them. Use iMessage for iPhone friends and another service for android friends.
One thing is for sure, the carriers will find some way to make up for lost funds from this. I am surpirised that some of them haven't offered their own cloud services by now.
The carriers might have been surprised by iMessage but they got some really good news today. The availability of over the air syncing and updates means that the average user will be using a lot more data than they do today. Locking people into higher tier data plans means more guaranteed income every month.
That is a really good point. As I was watching the Keynote I was thinking "Wow! That is going to be a lot of bandwidth" (data is quite expensive in my country).
The carriers will still get their pound of flesh. Still, some excellent features demoed today!
Apple needs to release an Android client for this. Too many people I know do not have iPhones.
Start converting them
It's nice to see some real pressure on SMS. I might be able to cancel my SMS plan by the time I need to re-up my subscription, because everybody I regularly message will be on iOS by then.
I think this is a more US-centric problem. In Austria for instance you can get a 19?/month plan that includes 1,000 free sms and 2,1000 free voice minutes (and you only get the minutes billed when you actively call someone).
As long as you are selecting a plan that includes a good number of sms I don't think the carriers make a lot of money with sms in Europe.
So resistance from the carriers from our side of the pond could be quiet minimal.
Hmmmm....so if what Gruber says is true (yeah ok), how does he plan to text his "sources" who don't use iOS devices? I thought this was iOS communication only???
Look, I don't have an SMS plan and never had one. TextFree originally could only send messages to other Textfree users. Sound familiar. If the only people that Gruber wants to text are using iOS devices, then he'll be fine, just like I was. I pretty much only text my wife.
For the extremely infrequent occasions where I wanted to text someone else, I paid the 20 cents. The most I've ever paid was maybe a buck and that beats the heck out of even $5/month.
Just because you text a lot of different people doesn't mean he does.
Gruber also said,
I am an iPhone user with iPhone-using family and friends. But not ALL of them use iPhones. I (and I would think he) would still want the ability to text those people.
Also, don't forget that iMessages can work over Wi-Fi and bypass the carriers altogether. I don't think they will be THAT upset. Unless Apple makes it an open standard that other phones could use. Now that would be sweet.
I've never had a text plan and when TextFree only worked with other Textfree users, I still didn't. For the occasional non-textfree user, I paid the 20cents and still came out ahead month instead of paying even the $5/month of the cheapest plan.
If the majority of his texts are to iOS users, just like the majority of mine were and still are to my wife, he'll be find, just like I am.
Apple is trying to lock in people to their architecture.....just like Google is. This is starting to get dangerous.
Yeah, Apple is trying to get people to buy their products and not something else. Can't have THAT.
(Of course, if you were calm and rational, you'd understand that there are many options for messaging outside the Apple ecosystem. But why be rational when you can be hysterical?)
iMessages replaces your SMS app. In some apple magical way it detects that the number (or email in the iPad's case) is enabled for iMessages. I'm guessing in the same way as facetime works using your number as your ID. If this is available the text you send will be sent as an iMessage and display in the app as blue. If this isn't the case or if the iMessage can't be delivered for whatever reason the SMS system takes over.
This is all completely transparent to the user (other than messages being blue rather than green). If the bubbles weren't blue you wouldn't even know until you got your bill at the end of the month and saw how much fewer sms's are being sent on your plan.
This is killer. You can turn it off for sure and go back to SMS but why would you. It's not like you have to change anything you are currently doing.
Oh, yeah. That's happening this side of 1994, that's for sure.
The idea behind iMessage is that in less than a year, too many people you know won't have anything but iOS devices.
Listen to me. Apple has given everyone on the planet free infinite texting.
If that doesn't instantly appeal to the younger scene, I don't know what does.
Seriously, I really don't know what appeals to kids these days. Do they still text out the wazoo? Then their parents will buy them iOS devices so they don't have to pay out the ear for texting plans. And then they'll get them for themselves so they can message back and forth.
Free text. Images. Video. FREE. INFINITE. The carriers are dead.
Seriously? You act like this is new. People with BBs have had this for years and the carriers are alive and well.
Seriously? You act like this is new. People with BBs have had this for years and the carriers are alive and well.
There are no differences in utility between iMessage and BBM? I'm not well versed in BBM so I'm honestly asking, but from what I can tell iMessage uses Apple's messaging servers, like FaceTime, but then uses open protocol standards for the service.
On top of that it looks like iMessage has NAT that will allow not just Apple's cellphones, but all their other products to connect to each other as if they are same. Does BBM have the rich media option and letting you know when someone is typing? Is BBM even an IP service?
Why they bring Facetime when they got already iChat. Why they bring iMessage when they got already iChat.
Why iMessage doesn't talk to Mac too?
Why not just put iChat on the iPhone with all the same feature of iChat on the Mac. Then you got video, text, file transfer etc...
now it's like a mess, on the Mac we got iChat and Facetime. On the iPhone, Facetime and iMessage
It look like the department work all in their corner without talking to each other, it look like microsoft strategie
I think this is a more US-centric problem. In Austria for instance you can get a 19?/month plan that includes 1,000 free sms and 2,1000 free voice minutes (and you only get the minutes billed when you actively call someone).
As long as you are selecting a plan that includes a good number of sms I don't think the carriers make a lot of money with sms in Europe.
So resistance from the carriers from our side of the pond could be quiet minimal.
Yea because we here in the states don't pay for stuff that's free.
There are no differences in utility between iMessage and BBM? I'm not well versed in BBM so I'm honestly asking, but from what I can tell iMessage uses Apple's messaging servers, like FaceTime, but then uses open protocol standards for the service.
On top of that it looks like iMessage has NAT that will allow not just Apple's cellphones, but all their other products to connect to each other as if they are same. Does BBM have the rich media option and letting you know when someone is typing? Is BBM even an IP service?
Yes it does tell you when the other party is typing. It's routed through RIMs servers, there's no character limit, one can send pics, videos and audio files over it. The biggest advantage Apple has is the ability for all IOS devices to use the service. I'm pretty sure the Playbook does not support BBM.