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FaceTime seems to be way more popular than most realize. Anecdotally, my children use it daily to talk with grandparents and cousins and I see people on public

FaceTime seems to be way more popular than most realize. Anecdotally, my children use it daily to talk with grandparents and cousins and I see people on public transportation using it in place of telephone calls (makes more sense there because they're not driving). And, I use it when traveling to talk to my family. The issue going forward is the lack of standardization across protocols. Despite Apple's mention in the keynote when FaceTime was announced that it would be open, FaceTime is iOS/Mac only for now. And, I don't see Facebook's playing nice with Amazon's, etc.

macNchz 9y ago
> makes more sense there because they're not driving I've driven next to people on the highway who were on a Facetime call with their phone resting on the dash in front of the speedometer, so that is a thing that people do, unfortunately.
digi_owl 9y ago
Wonder how much that has to do with vertical integration. If you already have a apple device you are already registered and anyone else on your contacts list that also have a apple device is also ready to receive your call.
- azinman2 9y ago
  It also works super well.
vermontdevil 9y ago
It's iOS/Mac only because it has to go through Apple server. This is because of this lawsuit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20236114 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20236114
- opportune 9y ago
  Interestingly, it seems the company they lost to is effectively a publicly traded patent troll
  - smnrchrds 9y ago
    And it has a market cap of just over 200 million dollars [1]. Makes me wonder why Apple wouldn't simply buy the company. They can more than easily afford it. [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VHC https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VHC
    - eutropia 9y ago
      If I were feeling vindictive I wouldn't want to reward a patent troll by making them multimillionaires. I'd rather sue them out of existence...
saagarjha 9y ago
> Apple's mention in the keynote when FaceTime was announced that it would be open They were planning to do so, but got caught up in a lawsuit with VirnetX.
- am1988 9y ago
  I'm so glad we have patents to help further innovation.

macNchz 9y ago

> makes more sense there because they're not driving I've driven next to people on the highway who were on a Facetime call with their phone resting on the dash in front of the speedometer, so that is a thing that people do, unfortunately.

digi_owl 9y ago

Wonder how much that has to do with vertical integration. If you already have a apple device you are already registered and anyone else on your contacts list that also have a apple device is also ready to receive your call.

azinman2 9y ago
It also works super well.

vermontdevil 9y ago

It's iOS/Mac only because it has to go through Apple server. This is because of this lawsuit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20236114 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20236114

opportune 9y ago
Interestingly, it seems the company they lost to is effectively a publicly traded patent troll
- smnrchrds 9y ago
  And it has a market cap of just over 200 million dollars [1]. Makes me wonder why Apple wouldn't simply buy the company. They can more than easily afford it. [1] https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VHC https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VHC
  - eutropia 9y ago
    If I were feeling vindictive I wouldn't want to reward a patent troll by making them multimillionaires. I'd rather sue them out of existence...

saagarjha 9y ago

> Apple's mention in the keynote when FaceTime was announced that it would be open They were planning to do so, but got caught up in a lawsuit with VirnetX.

am1988 9y ago
I'm so glad we have patents to help further innovation.