the Death Match for control of the "social web" of the future is Google vs. Facebook. both want to become your entrenched home page for everything you do on the web (like AOL and then Yahoo tried some years back). and "social" seems to be the best approach right now. and then monetize it all of course. MS also had such hopes once ... but never really pulled much together beyond XBox Live for hard core gamers (aka males under 30).
Google has an advantage with Android and its cloud ecosystem. your Android launch screen is your home page really, and Google puts all its stuff right there up front, with your stuff in its cloud auto linked into it. you can be sure Google+ will be fully integrated with this ASAP. the best Facebook can do is get you to launch its app instead. not bad, but not best. and Facebook does not have anything like the range of services Google does - yet (except games, where is it much stronger). that's why it is adding Skype now, and more to come this year.
Apple obviously is NOT doing "social." FaceTime is a very nice feature for families with Macs and iThings - and small busineses perhaps - but Apple has not extended it beyond its walled garden. likewise, Apple is building Twitter into Lion for easy simple texting, but Twitter handles the "social" stuff. these are convenience features, not products competing with other like products.
What Apple does need is for FaceBook to have first class iOS apps. and Facebook does not want to blow off Apple's higher end demographic. hence the iPad Facebook app coming soon ... and a Google+ app also?
so what Apple is focusing on is the consumer convenience of its products, to sell more of them of course. NOT to get you to use FaceTime instead of some other video call service.
Facebook knows that. Which is why this story's headline about "compete with Apple" is all wrong.
like i said, the war is Facebook vs. Google. it's a fight between a 5 year old and a 10 year old over who will rule the playground.
Apple provides FaceTime as a feature to sell iPhones and iPads. Facebook doesn't make either and can run on iPhones (possibly iPads) so why would apple care?
the Death Match for control of the "social web" of the future is Google vs. Facebook. both want to become your entrenched home page for everything you do on the web (like AOL and then Yahoo tried some years back). and "social" seems to be the best approach right now.
Facetime is an open platform. Didn't you get the memo?
The thing techy types will never understand is that the general public (I.e. By far the majority of people) don't care about open, they just care about ease of use.
Thats why I use Mac OS and not Linux, and I also use Skype. I couldn't care less if it's "closed" - the fact that it's easy to use at a fair price is all I care about.
I would have to totally disagree. It does compete with Factime. The more users Facebook gets to use Skype the more relevant the Skype platform becomes. What it does is marginalize Facetime. People who may not have used Skype in the past will now get a account and eventually use it elsewhere too. By that I mean on all of their devices. It is huge for Skype.
There are currently 700 million Facebook users. If Skype captures just a small fraction of the users that will be HUGE for the platform and again will relegate Facetime to only a specialized product used on Apple's iOS devices.
Do you really think that iTunes would be such a monster platform if it were not on Windows? Windows addresses the largest user base and that is the advantage that Skype has over Facetime. Apple needs to free Facetime from apple only products. Then it too can become dominant like iTunes.
I would have totally disagree. How many times do you need to post the same message?
OTH, just because there are what 700m Facebook users does not mean they all are going to use it. Besides, Apple is a hardware company.
I've said this before and I'll say it again (but not 4 times like tgolly!), Skype and FaceTime aren't truly competitors. FaceTime is built right into Apple products. That means that in many cases, Apple users don't have to bother with a 3rd party program. Many will not even bother to look at a 3rd party program to see if it's better or not.
A simple example. My girlfriend has a MacBook Pro. I have an iPhone 4 and a MacBook Pro. All my brothers have iPhone 4s as do many of my friends, even Apple haters some of them. When my girlfriend wants to talk to me she just FaceTime calls me. She doesn't have to text and say 'get on Skype' or 'get on Facebook, I wanna talk'. She just calls, and my phone just rings.
The impact that this deal MAY have in the future is if Microsoft can incorporate Skype directly into WP7. If they can do that and have the Skype client reachable via a push call so that WP7 users can call other WP7 users without actually signing into Skype (or waiting for Skype to load up) then it would take away FaceTime as a USP of iOS. And if Facebook users could also call WP7 users directly, that could also be a nice selling point, but not a huge one for most people.
iOS/Mac users don't view FaceTime as an app; they see it as a hardware feature almost. That's big, and it's a challenge for Skype. For now, the only reason an iOS/Mac user has to install Skype is to talk to non-Apple users. I have Skype on my Mac and my iPhone but I only load it when a Windows user wants to talk. It's the fallback option, not the weapon of choice or convenience. That's what Skype has to change. If I want to talk to anyone that has a mac or an iPhone (and that's a sizeable group of people these days), I just default to FaceTime because it's more convenient, doesn't require logging in at either end and therefore any prior arrangement with the person I'm calling, and it works well.
I guess what Facebook gets out of this is a shiny new feature to freshen up the service and minimise the impact of the hangout feature on Google+, which does look very nice if it works well.
I don't know WHAT Apple is thinking with FaceTime. I haven't heard a peep about it for about a year. It's a great idea - videochat built into devices, based on already-existing user information (email), with no need for buddy lists. Completely integrated into the phone.
However
1) There's no indiction that it's ever going to be compatible with any of the existing big players (e.g. Skype)
2) They charged a buck for it on old devices!
3) It exists simultaneously with iChat. Whhhhy?!
So, their strategy is to not work with others to use the standard, and be so proprietary that your own company's existing video chat app is incompatible.
The thing techy types will never understand is that the general public (I.e. By far the majority of people) don't care about open, they just care about ease of use.
Thats why I use Mac OS and not Linux, and I also use Skype. I couldn't care less if it's "closed" - the fact that it's easy to use at a fair price is all I care about.
The people that really should start worrying a little bit, should really be the carriers.
Once people keep using this types of service they can do with less and less phone minutes.
Also if Google's Android works out with Apple a deal. Android gets FaceTime, and Apple can have the Navigation App. That would connect an awful lot of users there.
I don't know WHAT Apple is thinking with FaceTime. I haven't heard a peep about it for about a year. It's a great idea - videochat built into devices, based on already-existing user information (email), with no need for buddy lists. Completely integrated into the phone.
However
1) There's no indiction that it's ever going to be compatible with any of the existing big players (e.g. Skype)
2) They charged a buck for it on old devices!
3) It exists simultaneously with iChat. Whhhhy?!
So, their strategy is to not work with others to use the standard, and be so proprietary that your own company's existing video chat app is incompatible.
Comments
Google has an advantage with Android and its cloud ecosystem. your Android launch screen is your home page really, and Google puts all its stuff right there up front, with your stuff in its cloud auto linked into it. you can be sure Google+ will be fully integrated with this ASAP. the best Facebook can do is get you to launch its app instead. not bad, but not best. and Facebook does not have anything like the range of services Google does - yet (except games, where is it much stronger). that's why it is adding Skype now, and more to come this year.
Apple obviously is NOT doing "social." FaceTime is a very nice feature for families with Macs and iThings - and small busineses perhaps - but Apple has not extended it beyond its walled garden. likewise, Apple is building Twitter into Lion for easy simple texting, but Twitter handles the "social" stuff. these are convenience features, not products competing with other like products.
What Apple does need is for FaceBook to have first class iOS apps. and Facebook does not want to blow off Apple's higher end demographic. hence the iPad Facebook app coming soon ... and a Google+ app also?
so what Apple is focusing on is the consumer convenience of its products, to sell more of them of course. NOT to get you to use FaceTime instead of some other video call service.
Facebook knows that. Which is why this story's headline about "compete with Apple" is all wrong.
like i said, the war is Facebook vs. Google. it's a fight between a 5 year old and a 10 year old over who will rule the playground.
the Death Match for control of the "social web" of the future is Google vs. Facebook. both want to become your entrenched home page for everything you do on the web (like AOL and then Yahoo tried some years back). and "social" seems to be the best approach right now.
Well summarized! Facebook is truly the new AOL!
Facetime is an open platform. Didn't you get the memo?
The thing techy types will never understand is that the general public (I.e. By far the majority of people) don't care about open, they just care about ease of use.
Thats why I use Mac OS and not Linux, and I also use Skype. I couldn't care less if it's "closed" - the fact that it's easy to use at a fair price is all I care about.
Facetime is none existent to the vast majority of people and most of iPhone users. The Skype/Facebook partnership competes against Google Hangout.
I would have to totally disagree. It does compete with Factime. The more users Facebook gets to use Skype the more relevant the Skype platform becomes. What it does is marginalize Facetime. People who may not have used Skype in the past will now get a account and eventually use it elsewhere too. By that I mean on all of their devices. It is huge for Skype.
There are currently 700 million Facebook users. If Skype captures just a small fraction of the users that will be HUGE for the platform and again will relegate Facetime to only a specialized product used on Apple's iOS devices.
Do you really think that iTunes would be such a monster platform if it were not on Windows? Windows addresses the largest user base and that is the advantage that Skype has over Facetime. Apple needs to free Facetime from apple only products. Then it too can become dominant like iTunes.
I would have totally disagree. How many times do you need to post the same message?
OTH, just because there are what 700m Facebook users does not mean they all are going to use it. Besides, Apple is a hardware company.
A simple example. My girlfriend has a MacBook Pro. I have an iPhone 4 and a MacBook Pro. All my brothers have iPhone 4s as do many of my friends, even Apple haters some of them. When my girlfriend wants to talk to me she just FaceTime calls me. She doesn't have to text and say 'get on Skype' or 'get on Facebook, I wanna talk'. She just calls, and my phone just rings.
The impact that this deal MAY have in the future is if Microsoft can incorporate Skype directly into WP7. If they can do that and have the Skype client reachable via a push call so that WP7 users can call other WP7 users without actually signing into Skype (or waiting for Skype to load up) then it would take away FaceTime as a USP of iOS. And if Facebook users could also call WP7 users directly, that could also be a nice selling point, but not a huge one for most people.
iOS/Mac users don't view FaceTime as an app; they see it as a hardware feature almost. That's big, and it's a challenge for Skype. For now, the only reason an iOS/Mac user has to install Skype is to talk to non-Apple users. I have Skype on my Mac and my iPhone but I only load it when a Windows user wants to talk. It's the fallback option, not the weapon of choice or convenience. That's what Skype has to change. If I want to talk to anyone that has a mac or an iPhone (and that's a sizeable group of people these days), I just default to FaceTime because it's more convenient, doesn't require logging in at either end and therefore any prior arrangement with the person I'm calling, and it works well.
I guess what Facebook gets out of this is a shiny new feature to freshen up the service and minimise the impact of the hangout feature on Google+, which does look very nice if it works well.
Guys, I think unless Facetime is released for Windows and made compatiple with Skype and got Facebook integrated in it, no one will use it.
Facetime is none existent to the vast majority of people and most of iPhone users. The Skype/Facebook partnership competes against Google Hangout.
ARE YOU JOKING
face time with in 8 yrs will have at least 1bn I-tune credit card accounts
that mean's serious people
as facetime gets stronger and better and the word gets out it will be fantastic
facetime is not a social network just yet
but when i have a great hendrix song i will face time some buddies and share with them
face book is an open silly dangerous group of needly people
some factbook clients or most face book clients sign up and leave forever
facetime on the other hand is a powerful toll waiting for when if ever its needed
like honey that coat is so nice and i turn it on and show my wife the color of the coat
stuff like that
facetime is ad free
face book is the largest internet bubble to soon burst
peace 9
dude
However
1) There's no indiction that it's ever going to be compatible with any of the existing big players (e.g. Skype)
2) They charged a buck for it on old devices!
3) It exists simultaneously with iChat. Whhhhy?!
So, their strategy is to not work with others to use the standard, and be so proprietary that your own company's existing video chat app is incompatible.
Apple has your email address and/or you phone number credit card info and other things if you use facetime also.
Apple don't sell you out to advertisers.
ARE YOU JOKING
face time with in 8 yrs will have at least 1bn I-tune credit card accounts
that mean's serious people
as facetime gets stronger and better and the word gets out it will be fantastic
facetime is not a social network just yet
but when i have a great hendrix song i will face time some buddies and share with them
face book is an open silly dangerous group of needly people
some factbook clients or most face book clients sign up and leave forever
facetime on the other hand is a powerful toll waiting for when if ever its needed
like honey that coat is so nice and i turn it on and show my wife the color of the coat
stuff like that
facetime is ad free
face book is the largest internet bubble to soon burst
peace 9
dude
Bla bla bla my friend... Keep on dreaming. You need a reality check.
People with Facetime on their phone would rather skype today.
When we talk about telecommunication, one needs to be able to call anyone.
With Apple, you got to call another Apple users.
It's just too limited even if, like now, they are willing to license it.
It won't fly until they make it compatible with other technologies such as windows and Skype.
The thing techy types will never understand is that the general public (I.e. By far the majority of people) don't care about open, they just care about ease of use.
Thats why I use Mac OS and not Linux, and I also use Skype. I couldn't care less if it's "closed" - the fact that it's easy to use at a fair price is all I care about.
Agreed.
Once people keep using this types of service they can do with less and less phone minutes.
Also if Google's Android works out with Apple a deal. Android gets FaceTime, and Apple can have the Navigation App. That would connect an awful lot of users there.
O RLY?
http://daringfireball.net/linked/201...etime-standard
Well maybe Apple didn't get the memo either, but you gotta admit it came straight from Steve Jobs...
I don't know WHAT Apple is thinking with FaceTime. I haven't heard a peep about it for about a year. It's a great idea - videochat built into devices, based on already-existing user information (email), with no need for buddy lists. Completely integrated into the phone.
However
1) There's no indiction that it's ever going to be compatible with any of the existing big players (e.g. Skype)
2) They charged a buck for it on old devices!
3) It exists simultaneously with iChat. Whhhhy?!
So, their strategy is to not work with others to use the standard, and be so proprietary that your own company's existing video chat app is incompatible.
Front Page Article: http://www.patentlyapple.com/
Apple Wins Key Patents for iPhone Video Conferencing, Future Macs with NFC Antennas & More
Bla bla bla my friend... Keep on dreaming. You need a reality check.
People with Facetime on their phone would rather skype today.
When we talk about telecommunication, one needs to be able to call anyone.
With Apple, you got to call another Apple users.
It's just too limited even if, like now, they are willing to license it.
It won't fly until they make it compatible with other technologies such as windows and Skype.
dude if you have itunes and OWN an apple facetime device .you can facetime away .
i say with in 6 to 8 yrs FACETIME will be a monster free service <<no ads either >>
msft and all the otters can't do this because they don't have any amount of devices sold
like say the zune !!!
1 million sold <> zune
FACETIME DEVICES <> 120 million sold
Facetime is just starting out and there are a fucking ton of head aches with it
but sometime soon a will make free video call world wide to any of my ....
yes i am dreaming bla bla bla
sheep