Oh okay, I misunderstood its implementation. Still though, it will definitely not be any sort of SMS killer.

Why not? All it would take is for Apple to standardize the spec and all of a sudden your BlackBerry/Android using friends are on board. My SMS usage is going to plummet with just iPhones on board, but add in the others and I'm down to reminders that are sent programmatically.

I agree with jbondeson and in addition to that, Apple probably won't want to standardize and share this, it's a new incentive they've created to buy an iOS device.

I think it was more of a power move with their carrier partners, the user experience is nearly the same.

Even if so, why should Apple give Android similar leverage over carriers?

Because it would be better for every handset maker to not be held by the nuts by carriers. In most markets Android has more market share, Apple would be wise to be able and set the standard for future messaging.

The iPhone has 4-5% market share of worldwide mobile phones. Even if you could get every smart phone manufacturer to convert that still would only get you to a ~20% market share.

SMS isn't going anywhere soon.

The fact that the iPhone has a 5% market share does not mean it represents 5% of all SMS messages sent. Smartphone users text message more frequently than your grandmother with an LG handset.

I would argue that the frequency of SMS usage has very little to do with the type of phone you have, and much more to do with the demographic. There are plenty of iPhone users (such as my mother) who don't use SMS at all, and plenty of 14 year olds without smart phones (like my cousin) who text dozens of times a day.

Either way, I've never seen a breakdown of SMS usage by either category.

I had peers in junior high/high school (before I even had a cell phone) who sent hundreds a day. One girl bragged about reaching something like 30,000 one month.

It doesn't have to go anywhere soon in order to die a slow, painful death. Moreover, it's a question of one's social circles. In my case, it hardly matters what the worldwide share looks like since nearly everyone I currently text has an iPhone.

It might not kill SMS itself, but it has a decent chance of killing the need for an SMS plan. If most of your text messages are free anyway, then buying a text plan starts to become a poor idea.

I haven't had a text plan on AT&T for many months, mainly because I use Beluga to send texts to my friends. iMessage is similar but much more seamless. I have saved hundreds of dollars by paying for the few text messages I still send/receive as I go.

The US is not the World.

Also: I don’t think an iMessage is 1MB.

I feel I should explain myself. I understand iMessage is much more than SMS and I love it so far. What I am saying is that is has been difficult to convince friends to use it. They still require a SMS plan since not everybody has an iPhone. Using iMessage will cut into their limited data, while using their SMS plan will be unlimited. Once more people have iPhones, we can ditch the SMS plan and use the "cheaper" data.

iMessage offers more: you can send photos and videos, and you see the other end typing if I understand correctly, so you can use it like a chat.

More: you can use iMessage on iPad and iPod touch to send message to someone using iPhone.

Has Apple mentioned anything about Mac OS support?

I'm curious what the typical texting plan and actual usage numbers are. I have the minimum (400, I think) and I never go over it, but I'm also past the whole social butterfly period in my life.

Sigh.

If you like you can obviously deactivate iMessage. It’s not a problem.

For what it's worth, I appreciate your sanity.

And how are you imagining SMS messages work currently?

Well, I doubt that my SMS messages are routed through an external third party outside my country if I send a local SMS. I rather have my local government control who can access my information, then a US company.

If that's your concern, then, Settings > Messages > iMessage to [OFF]. Hardly difficult.

I'm assuming you have the same concern about your emails, right?

By the way iMessages are encrypted end-to-end (but I wouldn't expect you to believe or trust Apple on this).

What in the world is a "local SMS?" It still goes through the cellular network, even when you're texting the person in the cube next door.

Local cellular networks are governed by the local government. US companies are governed by the US government.

Some governments > US governments on issues of privacy and propriety ..