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> I feel like texting was unlimited by the time iMessage became prominent. […] In fact, the exact opposite is what I think happened. Texting was unlimited in th
by dahart 4y ago
> I feel like texting was unlimited by the time iMessage became prominent. […] In fact, the exact opposite is what I think happened. Texting was unlimited in the US
No I don’t think this is accurate. I remember US cell providers charging for text message when iMessage was released. iMessage mattered to me initially, and I did use iMessage WiFi texting to avoid SMS charges and overages. Here’s an article from 2013 (two years after iMessage started) talking about telcos deciding to stop charging. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2486212/at-t--t-mobile--sprint-to-stop-charging-for-most-premium-text-messages.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2486212/at-t--t-mobile... Don’t forget that at the time there was a big distinction between SMS and MMS (anything longer than 160 chars, anything with images, movies or audio, etc.
I have no doubt that WhatsApp, in addition to iMessage, contributed to the telcos realizing that charging for messaging was no longer a good idea. But messaging was not effectively unlimited before iMessage came around.
- lotsofpulp 4y agoYou may recall correctly, but that article is about Premium SMS, something I did not even know about. But it does not say anything about SMS/MMS. This link from Jul 2012 says ATT/Verizon were offering unlimited talk and text at that time: https://www.wired.com/2012/07/att-shared-data-plan/ https://www.wired.com/2012/07/att-shared-data-plan/ This link from Dec 2015 claims 90% of people had unlimited plans and they started being offered a few years ago: >But in the last few years, “Unlimited Talk and Text” has become an increasingly common phrase. https://instantcensus.com/blog/almost-90-of-americans-have-unlimited-texting https://instantcensus.com/blog/almost-90-of-americans-have-u...
- dahart 4y ago2015 is long after iMessage started, and “unlimited plans” were something that you had to pay a premium price for, they cost extra money. When iMessage first came out, unlimited texting was not available on the standard/budget plans, and today it is. I mean, WiFi texting was a selling point of iMessage for a reason. They made a big deal out of being able to send messages for free. From my perspective in the US, I wasn’t even aware of WhatsApp at the time, and so it felt like iMessage was the primary force causing telcos to back off. (That and the fact that charging for SMS was stupid because the cheaper alternatives used more bandwidth.) WhatsApp might have in reality been a larger force, but I’m skeptical because WhatsApp was an app you had to go get, while iMessage was the built-in default way to send text messages. IPhone user base in 2011 was more than 2x larger than WhatsApp user base at the same time.