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Reading the article reminded me that I don't really get the fuzz around iMessage. It's an iOS-only messaging system (meaning that the majority of the people ou

Reading the article reminded me that I don't really get the fuzz around iMessage. It's an iOS-only messaging system (meaning that the majority of the people out there can't use it), and it limited to only certain carriers (it works on only 3 our of 6 in my country, AFAIK), narrowing the audience even more. Yet, even though it's double-niche, Apple seems to be putting effort, and features into an app, that, apparently, very few people out there can use (I don't personally know anybody how has both and iPhone and a carrier that supports iMessages, me having only the former).

zippergz 10y ago
Obviously it depends heavily on where you live and who you are friends with. Here in a major city in the US, virtually all of the people I exchange messages with are on iMessage. For the tiny minority who aren't (I just skimmed my message list and I found exactly three), it pretty gracefully degrades to SMS.
- hobarrera 10y ago
  > Here in a major city in the US That's my point. If you're a global company targeting major US cities, you're missing out about 80% (might be more, might be less) of the world. Of course there are people for whom this is useful, but that doesn't mean it's useful for most (or even a large percentage!) of the people out there.
HappyTypist 10y ago
Out of the last 10 people I talked to, 6 were on iMessage, 1 SMS, 3 messenger.
kalleboo 10y ago
> and it limited to only certain carriers You don't even need a phone to use iMessage - it works just as well with an iCloud account name or on a Mac. I don't know what the carriers in your country are doing to the phone to break it (blocking it to preserve SMS revenues?). I've also traveled extensively and never had problems with iMessage so I'd wager your country is an outlier. iMessage is not even blocked in China.
- hobarrera 10y ago
  > You don't even need a phone to use iMessage You need an iPhone and specific carriers for iMessage activation. > I don't know what the carriers in your country are doing to the phone to break it [..] They're not doing anything. iMessages activation requires carrier intervention. It's clearly documented in Apple's website. Apple simply has no deal with them. There are also known issues with reactivation when you change your phone AND your carrier, but not your number. There's also a list of "supported carriers" (where my country, Argentina, isn't even in the list, even though some carrier do work). > blocking it to preserve SMS revenues? Seriously? Do you think a carrier would charge me for an SMS, and then discard it silently? I actually do get the SMSs. The problem is that there's no carrier support for the activation.

zippergz 10y ago

Obviously it depends heavily on where you live and who you are friends with. Here in a major city in the US, virtually all of the people I exchange messages with are on iMessage. For the tiny minority who aren't (I just skimmed my message list and I found exactly three), it pretty gracefully degrades to SMS.

hobarrera 10y ago
> Here in a major city in the US That's my point. If you're a global company targeting major US cities, you're missing out about 80% (might be more, might be less) of the world. Of course there are people for whom this is useful, but that doesn't mean it's useful for most (or even a large percentage!) of the people out there.

HappyTypist 10y ago

Out of the last 10 people I talked to, 6 were on iMessage, 1 SMS, 3 messenger.

kalleboo 10y ago

> and it limited to only certain carriers You don't even need a phone to use iMessage - it works just as well with an iCloud account name or on a Mac. I don't know what the carriers in your country are doing to the phone to break it (blocking it to preserve SMS revenues?). I've also traveled extensively and never had problems with iMessage so I'd wager your country is an outlier. iMessage is not even blocked in China.

hobarrera 10y ago
> You don't even need a phone to use iMessage You need an iPhone and specific carriers for iMessage activation. > I don't know what the carriers in your country are doing to the phone to break it [..] They're not doing anything. iMessages activation requires carrier intervention. It's clearly documented in Apple's website. Apple simply has no deal with them. There are also known issues with reactivation when you change your phone AND your carrier, but not your number. There's also a list of "supported carriers" (where my country, Argentina, isn't even in the list, even though some carrier do work). > blocking it to preserve SMS revenues? Seriously? Do you think a carrier would charge me for an SMS, and then discard it silently? I actually do get the SMSs. The problem is that there's no carrier support for the activation.