4 ms·

You want half assed? FaceTime when it was announced by Steve Jobs, he himself up on stage said it would be open source. The developers in the front rows looked

You want half assed? FaceTime when it was announced by Steve Jobs, he himself up on stage said it would be open source. The developers in the front rows looked at each other and said, “did we say it would be open sourced?” It’s still not open sourced to this day.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
reaperducer 5y ago
You want half assed? Not Apple's fault. See other replies in this thread that it was killed by a patent troll.
- DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
  Why would Apple be afraid of patent trolls? If they wanted to release it as an open-specification, they could.
  - zepto 5y ago
    Why do you think Apple is immune to patent lawsuits? They have frequently had to settle them.
  - nexuist 5y ago
    It would obviously be useless if they released the spec for it but you couldn't use it to connect to existing FaceTime devices.
  - dkonofalski 5y ago
    That's the problem. They cannot because one of the technologies they're using is covered by an existing patent that doesn't allow them to open it up. They would have to re-engineer how the whole system works to make it different enough to not be applicable to that patent. To be clear, the patent in question is reaaaaaaally generic so there's really nothing they can do to get around it while still keeping a video-calling system that allows people to call with an Apple ID.
- gsich 5y ago
  A very lame excuse.
  - gyc 5y ago
    Apple is already on the hook for about a billion dollars to VirnetX. That's not a lame excuse at all.
    - dingaling 5y ago
      VirnetX Market cap: 356.004M Apple could offer every shareholder ten times the market value and end the problem.
      - DevKoala 5y ago
        What makes you think they would sell when it is more profitable to milk their patents?
    - gsich 5y ago
      It is.
Y-bar 5y ago
You are correct that the idea to make it open source was a spur of the moment that took the developers by surprise. But the reason why it never happens can be spelled VirnetX
- SilverRed 5y ago
  > VirnetX has been described as being a patent troll, accused of marketing no actual products or services and instead earning its revenue through licensing patents I'm so glad we have the patent system around to promote innovation and protect creators!
cargo8 5y ago
TBF he said it would be an open protocol, not open-source. That being said, obviously Apple still never followed through...
- userbinator 5y ago
  Apparently it's some variant of SIP. I'm surprised that it's been a decade and no one has RE'd it all and written an open-source client (or have they all been threatened by lawyers...?) http://blog.krisk.org/2013/09/apples-new-facetime-sip-perspective.html http://blog.krisk.org/2013/09/apples-new-facetime-sip-perspe... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1509717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1509717
musicale 5y ago
> Steve Jobs, he himself up on stage said it would be open source This seems to be the quote you are referring to: “FaceTime video calling. Now, FaceTime is based on a lot of open standards — H.264 video, AAC audio, and a bunch of alphabet soup acronyms — and, we’re gonna take it all the way. We’re going to the standards bodies, starting tomorrow, and we’re gonna make FaceTime an open industry standard.” Note Jobs promised open industry standard and not open source. They are not the same thing. But you are correct that we are still waiting for Jobs' promised open standard! This CNET article also misconstrues "open industry standard" as "open source" and also blames VirnetX: https://www.cnet.com/news/steve-jobs-promised-to-make-facetime-open-source-its-time/ https://www.cnet.com/news/steve-jobs-promised-to-make-faceti...

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

reaperducer 5y ago

You want half assed? Not Apple's fault. See other replies in this thread that it was killed by a patent troll.

DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
Why would Apple be afraid of patent trolls? If they wanted to release it as an open-specification, they could.
- zepto 5y ago
  Why do you think Apple is immune to patent lawsuits? They have frequently had to settle them.
- nexuist 5y ago
  It would obviously be useless if they released the spec for it but you couldn't use it to connect to existing FaceTime devices.
- dkonofalski 5y ago
  That's the problem. They cannot because one of the technologies they're using is covered by an existing patent that doesn't allow them to open it up. They would have to re-engineer how the whole system works to make it different enough to not be applicable to that patent. To be clear, the patent in question is reaaaaaaally generic so there's really nothing they can do to get around it while still keeping a video-calling system that allows people to call with an Apple ID.
gsich 5y ago
A very lame excuse.
- gyc 5y ago
  Apple is already on the hook for about a billion dollars to VirnetX. That's not a lame excuse at all.
  - dingaling 5y ago
    VirnetX Market cap: 356.004M Apple could offer every shareholder ten times the market value and end the problem.
    - DevKoala 5y ago
      What makes you think they would sell when it is more profitable to milk their patents?
  - gsich 5y ago
    It is.

Y-bar 5y ago

You are correct that the idea to make it open source was a spur of the moment that took the developers by surprise. But the reason why it never happens can be spelled VirnetX

SilverRed 5y ago
> VirnetX has been described as being a patent troll, accused of marketing no actual products or services and instead earning its revenue through licensing patents I'm so glad we have the patent system around to promote innovation and protect creators!

cargo8 5y ago

TBF he said it would be an open protocol, not open-source. That being said, obviously Apple still never followed through...

userbinator 5y ago
Apparently it's some variant of SIP. I'm surprised that it's been a decade and no one has RE'd it all and written an open-source client (or have they all been threatened by lawyers...?) http://blog.krisk.org/2013/09/apples-new-facetime-sip-perspective.html http://blog.krisk.org/2013/09/apples-new-facetime-sip-perspe... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1509717 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1509717

musicale 5y ago

> Steve Jobs, he himself up on stage said it would be open source This seems to be the quote you are referring to: “FaceTime video calling. Now, FaceTime is based on a lot of open standards — H.264 video, AAC audio, and a bunch of alphabet soup acronyms — and, we’re gonna take it all the way. We’re going to the standards bodies, starting tomorrow, and we’re gonna make FaceTime an open industry standard.” Note Jobs promised open industry standard and not open source. They are not the same thing. But you are correct that we are still waiting for Jobs' promised open standard! This CNET article also misconstrues "open industry standard" as "open source" and also blames VirnetX: https://www.cnet.com/news/steve-jobs-promised-to-make-facetime-open-source-its-time/ https://www.cnet.com/news/steve-jobs-promised-to-make-faceti...