On the 6th June 2011, Steve Jobs introduced iMessage to the world.
iMessage is a simple messaging platform which offers the following features:
- Simple conversation that is simpler than instant messaging but more advanced than SMS.
- Group messaging: you can have many contacts in a single conversation.
- Multimedia support: ability to send pictures and other media.
- Notification of message status: you can see the current status of each message.
It just so happens that TextOne mobile client has the same features. This has been available since early 2010 for iPhone and Android and will soon be obtainable for WebOS and Blackberry.
To be frank, simple messaging is a very competitive field, with tens of competing tools, such as Whatsapp, Beluga, Groupme, Kik, etc.
The simple messaging approach was first launched by BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), another closed system that Apple would like to compete with.
Apple decided to take this feature and integrate it into the phone. This is their right as platform owner, and I agree with the view of Fred Wilson: “You have to expect platform owners to work against you” (GigaOM).
As stated by Mark Mulligan in a Financial Times article: “Third-party developers can become a free R&D resource from Apple”.
We know the rule and we accept that when we build a solution for Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google platform, they have total control on the platform and can even decide to compete with you.
However, speaking of TextOne, we try to reuse our open background to do good. We have features that no one else has and that will make a difference in the long run.
Federation
Federation is something every one knows and loves already without having even thought about it carefully. When you send an email to a friend or a co-worker, you simply put his/her email address in the ‘to’ field and click send. It will reach him/her no matter which provider he/she is using.
When you send an SMS, you use the phone number and know the message will reach its target recipient. Most of the time SMS is a service that needs to be paid for. This comes with complex operator compensation rules, but that is not the user’s concern. The operators are competitors, but they manage to agree on Federation and interoperability for the good of the users.
Apple’s attitude towards iMessage is somewhat offensive. It uses Federation to turn a common good (the ability to send an SMS to anyone) into a private network (the iMessage messaging network that is private to an iMessage user). The Cult of the Mac website has a nice explanation of how this hijacking operates.
TextOne has Federation as a unique feature among simple and group text messaging. It is an extension of open standard (XMPP), is efficient and highly usable on mobile phones and was initially designed with Federation in mind
- Multiple domains and providers: There can be competing TextOne protocol compliant platforms. We would love to see that protocol used by all our competitors. Users can choose their TextOne provider according to features and quality and need not be stuck in a user base fight or user lock-ins.
- Federated with XMPP: You can chat with anyone using a standard XMPP platform. With TextOne, you can send and receive messages to and from Google Talk users, for example. You can even chat with users of your own corporate server.
- Federated with email: with email being a Federated protocol, we have built a chat experience on top of SMTP protocol. With Federated protocol, you can write conversion tools to allow the bridging of the two protocols. Every user has an incoming @text-one.com email address. They can “chat” with users through email (both send and receive emails). This even supports images (as an attachment) and group chat.
We believe that this is what the world needs. We don’t need any other closed platform, but rather an open protocol which moves competitors’ focus towards quality of services. We are dealing with communication protocol. They can only rely on open protocol.
So, is Apple iMessage evil?
We will not go that far yet, but we think the protocol and initiative battle in itself should be fought by all players in the mobile messaging business.
Apple is well aware of the weakness of the mobile ecosystem, i.e. that it is slow to react. The mobile industry is part of a technological world where problems are solved in forums via long protocol discussions.
However, the mobile industry no longer exists. The major emerging players come from a web background. The web is built bottom up, not top down. This is a grass root initiative.
In February 2008 an initiative called RCS (Rich Communication Suite) was launched to use “IMS” (IP Multimedia Subsystem) as a communication system. As stated in a Wikipedia RCS article: “However, RCS is considered by some to be not fit for purpose and has not been rolled out commercially by any major operator as of September 2010.” Now, Apple iMessage is ready. This shows that the traditional telco approach has turned into a weakness.
Apple has been playing on this weakness, shaking and taking by surprise the mobile world since 2007. The traditional players cannot catch up because their way of playing is not up to scratch in the mobile world.
We think that the time for TextOne protocol has come and we want to humbly propose it as the basis for a collective industry reaction. Time flies and a proper bottom up approach needs to be rolled out.
Our goal is now to gather both industrial partners and smaller companies that are using simple messaging and to demonstrate the power of a Federated network by “fall 2011″, which is the planned launch of iOS 5.
Would you like to join the party?
We are happy to help. Please get in touch by emailing contact AT process-one.net and we will make things happen. That’s our business.