Blog Comments

@gorilla - I'm not sure how Apple are going to handle the multiple-devices thing, but if an iPhone user texts your number then I don't think Apple will route that to the iPad... not unless you've got an iPhone registered and using your number anyway.

I'd imagine SMS/iMessage/FaceTime will end up all the same sort of thing, probably in one app. iMessage could replace iChat also? Last nail in the iChat coffin I'd say. That just leaves email really, and third party messaging services.

@hecatae - I think iPhone contract prices may increase again...

does this explain the premium price for an iphone on contract? all that lost revenue that the operator can see occurring.

Also why do Apple have so many communications tools now? iChat, Mail, SMS, iMessage, email, FaceTime (is there anymore?) never mind all of the IM apps in the App store.

I watched the keynote and I really don't get the fuss. This will only kill the networks when IM works like email and iMessage only works with other iOS devices and only internet connected ones at that.
I will have to see how this works when someone with an iPhone wants to send me a message.
Example:
I'm out of the house with my Android phone.
My iPad is at home connected to wifi and happily syncing away.
When someone with an iPhone tries to send me a message they will see that I'm online and can therefore send me an iMessage. The fact that I'm not with my iPad is unknown to iMessage. Yes the user will see that their message is not read, but can they easily resend that message as a SMS? I can see this being very frustrating for some people and my GF will not use it. She knows that if she sends me a text or an email I will get that on my phone. iMessage creates doubt.

As for the mob ops, I can see monthly line rental going up to offset any potential losses. Data is already pretty cheap and accessible by most customers. They could simply double the cost of data and reduce the included SMS bundles by 90% to ensure they maintain their margins. Let's hope they're not reading this ;-)

AFAIK iMessage automatically sends via Apple or SMS depending on whether the recipient is available to receive via Apple's ecosystem. So it's the whole element of the user not even having to consciously use it that'll worry operators most. BBM doesn't work like that, afaik, and IM doesn't because you have to consciously use it - including things like WhatsApp.

FishText, fwiw, automatically detects other users of the service and can route messages for free or via SMS depending on that. Maybe Apple found some inspiration there

The operators vehemently don't want to be dumb pipes. They want to own the customer relationship first and foremost. They know that being an ISP is no way to make a decent profit and they don't want to be on the bread lines. No, they want to be able to charge for things like messages consisting of just 140 bytes. P2p SMS is/was a veritable goldmine.

I don't think this is that special. FaceTime has still got a way to go and with iMessages users will still want to message those who are outside the iOS ecosystem. I do welcome this though as it will certainly bring IM mainstream.
I use PingChat to talk to friends on Android, iOS and blackberry (there's probably a Nokia app but who uses them anymore ) so I'm used to sending text / images / audio via IM.
I don't think the operators will care at this point - how many customers spend more than their monthly line rental? I have always said that mobile operators will one day be dumb pipes and this could start to happen in the USA where they already have 4G, but I think we are long way off that happening in the UK. (But I want it now!)

An interesting blog there Ben. This little shot across the operator's bows reminds me of the days when Telex was the mainstream means of typewritten communication. There were few contenders. At 50bps it used to take ages to get any lengthy messages anywhere, but as with SMS it was a global standard. Any Telex machine could call any other Telex machine in the world and it would just work. Later, much later, eMail came along and it all changed. Telex is now an oddity that barely persists - the Internet and all of the amazing messaging technologies it carries have usurped almost all other forms of electronic communications.

So can Apple cause such a paradigm shift in the mobile messaging world? Certainly it can within its own ecosystem, in much the same way as RIM has had it to itself within its own network. But wider than that the game is still open to the likes of WhatsApp and similar cross-platform messaging apps. And there are so many that confusion reigns, people don't know which to go to, and there is a constant churn between the various apps. None of which are gaining dominance.

But I certainly do like the iMessage concept and how it works - taking out of the user's hands whether it uses Internet or SMS. That is a nice touch.

I think I'll pop in to a local phone shop that does iPhone repairs today and see what the deal is. I believe they do white covers, but given the pains Apple went to in order to get the white iPhone right I sincerely doubt a third party casing is going to perform as well! No, I think I'll just get the back sorted so there's the possibility of offloading the phone should the lure of the white model become unbearable.

I have no intention of doing a colour update. Circa £600 is a lot of money for what is effectively a respray.

I suspect that the White will be a big success for Apple. The sheer amount of hiatus it has generated almost assure that.

As for your iPhone, Ben, why not simply get it re-glassed by one of the many independents and eBay it to offset the cost of a new White one?

I'm currently sitting on the fence regarding tablets, but it was interesting to hear the views of someone who has embraced the tablet era, more so as you echo a lot of my own concerns. I think there is a market for tablet PC's, but I also think that market is artificially inflated by the "Apple factor" in the sense a lot of people buying iPads probably wouldn't have bought a tablet had iPad not been released and we only had Android tablets etc. With that in mind it could be difficult for Apples competitors to get a foothold, and once Apple reach saturation the market could effectively flatline.

You mention the way you use your tablet, and I think this is probably the same for most people, although the tablet offers complete freedom to use it where you like and how you like, you still tend to use it as you would a laptop or a computer. Maybe in time this will change as old habits die, but maybe the way we use computers now is simply more productive, or at least feels more natural.

I personally feel a tablet is a good companion to go with a desktop PC or even a laptop, but when I really start to think about how I would use the tablet, I struggle to justify the cost. If I'm at home then I'm never more than a few feet from a high end PC, which is connected to pretty much every piece of technology I own, and when I'm away from home the modern smartphone is a more convenient partner due to its size. I'd almost have to manufacture scenarios to get my moneys worth out of a tablet.

I suspect a lot of people will buy tablets and find themselves in the same position where they struggle to find real world uses for it, there will also be a lot of people who will embrace them. How this plays out will effectively decide if tablets are a fad or not.

Being a bit of a Star Trek nerd, I've been wanting to own a data pad for the better part of the last 2 decades, and the iPad is basically the realisation of that dream, but strangely I still can't justify buying one. I think price and connectivity limitations are keeping me at bay, and Android is keeping me at bay on the other tablets.

With that in mind I think I'll ponder some more about it, while nerding out with some Trek to fuel my interest.

Avanti is registering packet loss between 10% and 20% for me these days. Satellite 'broadband' is such a myth.

Hope I get an ETA back from Openreach soon. At least the order is placed, it's all a waiting game now.

That was frankly a heartbreaking read, I spiral into panic and despair on the few occasions I get disconnected, so can feel your pain. Its outrageous that you should have to go to such lengths to get access to what is now considered a fairly essential service for most people. The UK really does need to get its finger out as we are falling embarrassingly far behind so called poorer countries....well some of us are, I'm on 50MB with an option to switch to 100MB fairly shortly.

You just know that most of it is licensing costs for patents, too. I bet the silicone is dirt cheap now!

We should all be wondering around in a wireless webby nirvana but it still hasn't happened.

I agree with hecatae, companies are looking to remove any socket or component that isn't needed/demanded by the masses, simply to cut down on production costs. Given the £100 price difference between iPad versions when it comes to 3G, it raises the question of how much does it cost to put it on a laptop or tablet? If its pricey then its easy to see why a lot of manufacturers opt not to have it.

We could write a blog about it or start a Facebook group? Also bring back Jif cleaner as Cif just sounds silly.

Marathon. All the way! Can't we get something done about that?

That was almost a "this is my blog and you can't play with it" moment.

Ah right I get what you mean about the average population thing, slight miscommunication on my part, I think in this case "average population" refers to people who didn't fit into either the elitist fud or independent geek category, the figures and terminologies used are a little confusing though. Also I don't think the survey was done in the UK I suspect is was the US of A.

If the Early Learning Centre had ousted Linux on netbooks that would have been the most awesome thing since that time David Hasselhoff drove about in that talking car, alas it was left to Windows.

In fairness Symbian has kept pretty much everybody at bay with ease, Symbian is effectively Microsofts worst nightmare, its an OS that has a similar dominance and entrenchment that they enjoy on the desktop, as everyone knows thats hard to break. I suspect Microsoft will fare better in the mobile arena in the times ahead, they can be a lumbering giant at times, but when they do eventually bring the full might of the company to bear in a morel focused manner as they have done time and again, they are indeed a force to be reckoned with.

Again I misunderstood your point about Google and Microsofts brands in the mobile sector, in fairness though Android isn't doing as much as one would think to strengthen Googles branding as a lot of people still don't connect the two, if you say Windows people immediately think of Microsoft, if you say Android the same isn't true, in fact I find myself thinking about Data from Star Trek and how much cooler he is than the OS of the same name, agreed on the search thing though Google are huge in that area.

Also I don't think I was being abrasive, it was a humorous prod about Apple owners being elitists and looking down on us mere Windows using mortals, when I say humorous I make no guarantee that its actually funny. If I wrote a blog it would either be the most awesome piece of literature since the dawn of literature or a long winded rant about the merits of the name Marathon above Snickers, either way the risks are too great so I just don't do it.

You're the one that referred to 'average population' - you know as well as I do that these surveys take a small sample which is then blown up to represent the population as a whole.

Windows won on Netbooks because Desktop Linux sucks. The Early Learning Centre could have ousted Linux on Netbooks if it had been so inclined.

Yet look at Microsoft's many failed years in the mobile phone sector, where competing operating systems such as Symbian have kept Windows Mobile at bay with ease.

Yeah I know in surveys Google's and Microsoft's 'brands' have been in flux. I was saying that, I think, Google's brand in mobile trumps Microsoft's. Google has been around on mobile for many, many years now, since operators starting using Google search on their mobile portals.

Not sure why you're being abrasive re: Windows being 'beneath me'. I believe that the Apple computing ecosystem creates greater efficiencies for me than the Microsoft one can offer. This is my blog and you're getting my perspective, go figure Go write a blog about your own views if you wish!

Again you are failing to appreciate the power of Windows, I know you like Macs and you see Windows as being "beneath you" but I don't know why its so difficult for you to just accept that you alone cannot fight Windows. To crush the Linux movement on netbooks Microsoft merely extended XP's lifespan and then rolled out its next OS, it did nothing specifically to take over the netbook market, but with a couple of small gestures it completely ended any competition. Granted this might not be so easy in the tablet market, but a company that can have such an effect by doing so little should never be underestimated.

I think Google did beat Microsoft in brand recognition, but that was in 2007 it now sits 4th again behind Microsoft if I'm not mistaken.

Also you might want to read my post again, 20,000 people can't really be considered the "UK population" I know we aren't a big country but we aren't that small either, and being a businessman you more than anyone should know that 3% of people interested in something doesn't translate into 3% actually buying it.

I don't underestimate the power of Windows on conventional computers, but so far Microsoft has failed to make a credible play in the new smartphone/tablet computing world (should it materialise).

Even if Windows Phone 7 is a success, it's so 'un-Windows' that it gives Microsoft no advantage in the consumer recognition stakes other than brand. Tbh I think the Google brand has it trumped even there.

If only 3% of the UK population are currently interested in an iPad then that's 1.8 million tablets from a single manufacturer! Yikes! The remaining 86% would be knowing what an iPad is rather speedily with uptake like that.