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AT&T fought tooth and nail to prevent telephones manufactured by third parties from connecting to their network, and eventually lost. Why should the major digit

AT&T fought tooth and nail to prevent telephones manufactured by third parties from connecting to their network, and eventually lost. Why should the major digital communication platforms fare any differently?

bydo 3y ago
There was only one AT&T, and to connect a third-party phone to their network still required paying AT&T for access. There are dozens of digital messaging alternatives to iMessage, and Beeper doesn't appear to be interested in paying any of them.
- vlovich123 3y ago
  That’s one interpretation. The other is that Apple doesn’t offer a way to pay for access. I would love to see legislation forcing the opening of protocols & force allowing compatible clients that aren’t abusive. I miss things like Pidgin/Trillium etc where you could just have the 1 app & not worry about what platform your friends were on. The current state of affairs is a major step back from the 90s/early 00s.
zer00eyz 3y ago
Because AT&T was a monopoly... There are a zillion messaging clients... Signal, Slack, Discord (all of them work on iPhone)... Sms is a protocol, iMessage works with that (it is connected to the network)... As an aside, the old ATT phones were nearly indestructible. Everything that came after was a race to the bottom.
- eli 3y ago
  Cell carriers did the same thing up until the iPhone. That wasn't quite a full and free market, but there were at least a competitors and they all did it because they could.
aw1621107 3y ago
If anyone else is curious about this, it appears there are two relevant cases: - Hush-a-Phone Corp v., United States[0], in which the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that AT&T could not prohibit the mechanical attachment of a device to its phones as long as the device did not damage AT&T's phone or its network - The Carterfone decision[1], where the FCC allowed third-party devices to be electrically connected to AT&T's network as long as they did not damage the network [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush-A-Phone_Corp._v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush-A-Phone_Corp._v._United_S... [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carterfone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carterfone
inferiorhuman 3y ago
Because Apple literally advertises third-party messaging apps.

bydo 3y ago

There was only one AT&T, and to connect a third-party phone to their network still required paying AT&T for access. There are dozens of digital messaging alternatives to iMessage, and Beeper doesn't appear to be interested in paying any of them.

vlovich123 3y ago
That’s one interpretation. The other is that Apple doesn’t offer a way to pay for access. I would love to see legislation forcing the opening of protocols & force allowing compatible clients that aren’t abusive. I miss things like Pidgin/Trillium etc where you could just have the 1 app & not worry about what platform your friends were on. The current state of affairs is a major step back from the 90s/early 00s.

zer00eyz 3y ago

Because AT&T was a monopoly... There are a zillion messaging clients... Signal, Slack, Discord (all of them work on iPhone)... Sms is a protocol, iMessage works with that (it is connected to the network)... As an aside, the old ATT phones were nearly indestructible. Everything that came after was a race to the bottom.

eli 3y ago
Cell carriers did the same thing up until the iPhone. That wasn't quite a full and free market, but there were at least a competitors and they all did it because they could.

aw1621107 3y ago

If anyone else is curious about this, it appears there are two relevant cases: - Hush-a-Phone Corp v., United States[0], in which the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that AT&T could not prohibit the mechanical attachment of a device to its phones as long as the device did not damage AT&T's phone or its network - The Carterfone decision[1], where the FCC allowed third-party devices to be electrically connected to AT&T's network as long as they did not damage the network [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush-A-Phone_Corp._v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush-A-Phone_Corp._v._United_S... [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carterfone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carterfone

inferiorhuman 3y ago

Because Apple literally advertises third-party messaging apps.