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Why the iPhone doesn't have chat

Rodimus Prime said:
Really people get it though you head that yes Apple did some very stupid and bone head things here.
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Seeing that we do not know the motive or reason as to why there is no iChat or messaging software on the phone its a little pre-mature to say Apple did a stupid thing here.

I suspect its coming and on top of that what percentage of users use IM on there phone? I for one never use chat and I know Im in the majority there - so given the choice of having a stable 1.0 product or iChat I choose a stable 1.0

(I know Im speculating here that they had to make a choice, something we know they have had to do which is evident by them delaying Leopard to put developers on the iPhone team, we just do not know for certain what plans they put on hold to release later, just that there is stuff being released later).
 
This is not true. When I had my blackberry I had a program called JiveTalk and it kept me logged into AIM all the time. It still worked when I received calls, I believe it just delays the messages being sent to you until you get off possibly? Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
FreeState said:
Seeing that we do not know the motive or reason as to why there is no iChat or messaging software on the phone its a little pre-mature to say Apple did a stupid thing here.

I suspect its coming and on top of that what percentage of users use IM on there phone? I for one never use chat and I know Im in the majority there - so given the choice of having a stable 1.0 product or iChat I choose a stable 1.0

(I know Im speculating here that they had to make a choice, something we know they have had to do which is evident by them delaying Leopard to put developers on the iPhone team, we just do not know for certain what plans they put on hold to release later, just that there is stuff being released later).
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i agree - iChat will be available via firmware update. apple held back a few features until leopard's release in october. once an updated iChat arrives for macs we will see the new version in the iphone as well.
 
GFLPraxis said:
What? AT&T can charge you for SMS, they can't charge for iChat convos. Your post makes no sense.
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It makes a lot of sense once you think at the amount of paid-SMSs lost because of people sending a free data-based IM instead of a paid SMS...
 
You have to realize that AIM chat and SMS is totally different for the most part. Unless you have friends who also have an iPhone or direct access to an AIM client you cannot talk to them then and there. If they have a mobile phone, you can use SMS to talk to them.

They, in my opinion, have two different purposes.

With SMS you cannot talk to someone via AIM. With AIM you cannot talk to someone via SMS (Yes, some clients like the new Leopard iChat let you send SMS messages, but it's one-way).

There are so many people on other networks that you would likely end up using SMS with. They aren't "losing" any revenue really. iChat is a different purpose and opens up more doors for people who use it. It won't replace SMS. Not until every phone out there has AIM by default.

Verizon for example. Uses text messages to talk over AIM. Each message you send is a text message, each message you receive over aim is also a text message. This is utter crap in my opinion. But this I think stops MOST people from using it. So, SMS gets used by itself.

Two purposes. One won't eat into the other until there are literally tens of millions of iPhones out there. Even then, it's effect will be minimal in terms of SMS messages.
 
Everyone needs to stop making these threads.

1) The only reason we dont have iChat is because its not finished, its coming, we all know it.

2) Reason they went with ATT besides the largest carrier is ATT wasnt going to limit them on what they wanted to do, other carriers wanted a lot more contrl then apple was willing to give.

3) many phones already had built in messanger clients, my ericsson had AIM and Yahoo built in.

4) My ericsson was edge, i went from aim to phoen to aim with no problem.
 
This is COMPLETELY FALSE as far as not being able to receive calls. I've used chat on EDGE before and here's how it works. Voice calls take priority over the EDGE network therefore when logged into chat on EDGE and you receive a call, you're asked if you want to take the call or ignore it. If you choose to take the call, the EDGE connection temporarily disconnects while you take the call and immediately reconnects upon completing the call. If you choose ignore, then the EDGE connection remains in tact and the individual is directed to your voicemail.

If anything, my guess is the reason there is no chat is because it is a HUGE battery drain constantly transferring information back and forth across the EDGE network - many people have already complained about this with the automatic email checking option. Switching this option to manual checking greatly extends battery life.

O. Frabjous-Dey said:
I've thought about this a little bit, and this by far seems like the most likely reason:

You can't receive calls and use EDGE at the same time. Apple is not really publicizing this, because most of the time it isn't very important: you only pull out the phone to look up directions or search the Internet once in a while.

But people want to leave their chat clients connected all the time. Unfortunately, you can't receive calls if you're logged into chat over EDGE. So it'll always be one or the other: you can either receive an IM, or a call, but not both.

It's simpler for Apple just to eschew iChat this time. Less angry customers, and they'll be able to implement it and sell it as a new feature once 3G is widespread enough in the US to be cost-effective.
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This statement should be clarified... many phones use SMS messaging in place of true messanger clients. This is the case with AIM on all motorola phones that I am aware of including the RAZR and all its incarnations.

B-Ri said:
Everyone needs to stop making these threads.

3) many phones already had built in messanger clients, my ericsson had AIM and Yahoo built in.
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ydnubm said:
You almost have it right...

You CAN still place/receive calls while using EDGE networking. But once you place or receive a call, all EDGE network traffic stops. This does not preclude having a 'chat' application (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google) in the slightest. There are countless instant messaging applications available for the Blackberry and Windows Mobile platforms that run just fine on AT&T's EDGE network. You just stop receiving messages while on the phone...

My theory is they simply didn't have i(Phone)Chat ready...
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exactly. my razr had no problems with its IM application and it used edge. it just didnt update the buddy list every second. IM is very possible on the iphone, and i hope its added soon. i miss it.
 
At the bottom of Page 21 of the iphone user guide it says:

Note: While iPhone is actively transferring data over EDGE—downloading a webpage,
for example—you may not be able to receive calls. Incoming calls may go to voicemail.
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Keyword here is "actively".

If I'm "using EDGE" but my browser is idle (the little twirly symbol next to the E isn't there), then calls come through just fine.

If I'm downloading a large payload or something is background polling using EDGE (the twirly symbol is there -- and twirling in all its twirly goodness) then calls go to voicemail/get rejected if voicemail diversion is turned off.


This is the same on any GPRS/EDGE device. Try it for yourself.
 
I miss Jivetalk for the Blackberry. It worked great, and phone calls came in just fine. Sigh, I'm trying to patiently wait for iChat.
 
*sigh*

maybe the next nano will be a phoneless phone (wifi only), and ichat with a properly situated camera (next to screen) will truly change the mobile device landscape...
 
3G is required for video conferencing...many phones support this. I don't think we'll see it from Apple in a very long time.
 
I believe there is no ichat because:

a) it isn't ready yet

or

b) because having a constant session open eats up your battery real fast. I have a cingular 8525, and when I have my IM client connected to AIM/MSN/Yahoo, my battery life is horrible. I assume this is due to the constant back and forth communication. I DO GET CALLS, so no problems there. I have had my IM client turned off now for about a month, and my battery life is MUCH better. I would barely get a day out of my batter with IM, and now I get about 3-5 days without IM.

Kimo
 
Yeah that's a BS excuse - my buddy has a curve which uses edge and it has IM capability. It just knocks him off edge when he's on a call...
 
opticalserenity said:
3G is required for video conferencing...many phones support this. I don't think we'll see it from Apple in a very long time.
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next time read the post... No phone support i.e. no cell, 2g, 3g, anything. just wifi- my laptop doesn't need 3g to videoconference- (I think voice conferencing will be more widely used anyway...) BUT- everything on the iPhone can be done on another phone as well (except vvmail) but like Apple always does, they make it better. iPhone Nano- that's what I'm waiting for.
 
I think that apple is waiting until the iphone is more widely used, before they introduce the death of cell service...
 
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