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June 4, 2007

speculation

Thanks to SMS, iChat’s status on iPhone is probably “Away”

Posted Jun. 4, ’07, 1:18 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Speculation

iphonesms.jpgThe iPhone: it’s a phone, an iPod, a breakthrough can-opener, and a coat hanger, all in one little oblong device. But if you’re expecting it to remove those lingering aches and pains that of the everyday world, you may want to think twice. Clearly, not every feature we’re expecting on the iPhone will make it into the device into our sweaty little hands at the end of the month.

In this case, I’m talking specifically about iChat. There’s been a lot of buzz in the past few days about the status of instant messaging on the iPhone, as personified by everybody’s favorite blue bubble application. While nothing is certain, a quick glance at the Likelihood Barometer shows that the prospect of iChat coming to the iPhone is falling fast.

You see, it’s all about lunch.

Specifically, of course, AT&T’s lunch—which it doesn’t want Apple eating (turkey on rye, unless I’m mistaken). When it comes to the iPhone, IM’s in a similar bind as VoIP: being able to instant message on the phone would potentially cannibalize an AT&T revenue stream—in this case, SMS. AT&T likes that SMS functionality, because it’s a money spigot. If you don’t sign up for one of their text-messaging plans, AT&T soaks you $0.15 per text message sent or received. On an individual basis, that might not seem so bad, but it definitely adds up. If you opt for a package that comes with a certain number of messages, it’ll run you at least $5 a month on top of the money that you’re already paying them for voice and data. And if you think it costs AT&T anywhere near $0.15 to send messages over their network, then perhaps I could interest you in taking Boston’s lovely Leonard P. Zakim Memorial Bridge off my hands—say $20,000?

They’re not even trying to hide it: I mean, iPhone’s SMS app looks exactly like iChat. It’s the dastardly Jedi mind trick: you think you’re chatting along on IM as usual, but each of those little cartoon speech bubbles is costing you money. My IM conversations usually run at least ten messages long per participant, meaning that I’d be out roughly $3 per chat if I wanted to use SMS as an IM replacement (clearly not something I’m really planning on doing).

If an IM client was available on the iPhone, you could instead take advantage of the data package that you’re likely going to have to pay for to send your messages for much cheaper. And, as a reminder, you can even send text messages to phones via iChat by IMing your phone number, prefixed by + and the country code (for example, +16175551234), only incurring a charge to the receiver, not the sender.

And what if you want to use IM when you’re using the iPhone’s Wi-Fi instead of its EDGE cellular capability: are you totally out of luck? Will web-based clients be usable with the iPhone version of Safari? Will an instant message widget get the kibosh from Apple? My guess is that Apple will do everything reasonably possible to avoid upsetting AT&T, whom after all is their legally bound partner for the next five years. If that means breaking a few eggs customers, so be it.

It’s a shame that the future’s become less about the cool things we can do and more about how companies can profit by turning technology into a toll road.


5 Comments

Jack said:

Except they make money for buying an additional plan to use IM (which is the $15 extra you have to pay to use IM, buy stuff from their entertainment services. I'm assuming no one actually buy that plan. Most people I know buy a voice plan, the all you can eat $20 internet plan, and the $5.00 text-messaging plan, which is for a few hundred text messages to and from anyone, and unlimited from other cingular customers (like the voice plan). But I want iChat eventually for video chat. Edge won't do it, but a couple years from now? Steve is quoted at macworld as saying "there's no reason we couldn't put iChat on there" when asked about it.

June 4, 2007 2:31 PM
Andre Da Costa said:

There is always the hackers to depend on who could hack it so you can use the built in wi-fi with a custom built or hacked SMS app developed with the speculated iPhone dev kit.

June 4, 2007 2:38 PM
Michael Long said:

"It’s a shame that the future’s become less about the cool things we can do and more about how companies can profit by turning technology into a toll road."

Of course, the flip side of that is that someone had to create and produce the iPhone and someone else had to build and maintain the network it operates on. Make a few multi-billion dollar investments of your own, and see if at some point you'd like a return...

June 4, 2007 2:45 PM
Mozez said:

I think that we will see websites designed to be accessible from the version of Safari on the iPhone. Not immediately, but it's the kind of iPhone development that can happen without an SDK.

It's hardly perfect, as it won't have Apple's shiny bubbles. There is one upside though: websites designed with Safari compatibility as the priority.

June 4, 2007 3:20 PM
Eric L said:

Wouldn't the phone co. make money because you would need a data plan to use IM?

June 5, 2007 5:31 AM

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