John Gruber, reacting to this post from Lauren Goode about iMessage stickiness:
There’s a split between iPhone users who are primarily part of the Apple ecosystem (iCloud, Safari, Apple Mail, …) and those who are part of the Google ecosystem (Google Drive, Google Calendar, Chrome, Gmail, …).
iMessage is an exception. With iMessage you get to connect both with iPhone users in the Google ecosystem and iPhone users in the Apple ecosystem. For a lot of us here in the U.S., that’s just about everyone we know. It’s no coincidence that two of Google’s major Android initiatives this year are Allo and Duo, their answers to iMessage and FaceTime. I don’t think it’s going to work.
And:
As an iOS/MacOS exclusive, iMessage is a glue that “keeps people stuck to their iPhones and Macs”, not the glue. iMessage for Android would surely lead some number of iPhone users to switch to Android, but I think that number is small enough to be a rounding error for Apple. Apple wins by creating devices and experiences that people want to use, not that they have to use.
Both Lauren Goode’s original and Gruber’s reaction posts are interesting and worth reading.
We understand and appreciate Gruber’s status in the Apple blogosphere. But it’s unfair to attribute this discussion to him. He was commenting on Lauren Goode’s post in The Verge. Dave, you should at least mention Goode and The Verge. Better yet, you should have that in your headline and then mention the follow-up from Gruber.
I agree wholeheartedly. But then there’s iTunes…
Fair point, though I was reacting to Gruber’s take, not Lauren’s. I do agree it’s worth pointing out that this is a reaction, will add that. Just for the record, I am a fan of Lauren Goode’s writing, too.
I never really got the “stickiness” of iMessage. It seems to me just like SMS. If you used an android phone, you can just use SMS to communicate with iDevices and there is no difference besides from being green (which maybe only teens care about).
Not everyone has an unlimited SMS plan.
Apple is adding to Messages a lot in iOS 10 – apps, stickers, effects. Plus, Messages has one thing that some of us care about – it’s encrypted end to end. Finally, if you’re entirely in the Apple ecosystem, everything syncs across all your devices.
There is much more to iMessage than there is to SMS. Much moer.