Please no crossposting! Re: Information regarding theMessaging Support in OpenMoko

[Jonathon Suggs]

Sean Moss-Pultz wrote:
> Agreed. Really what I would like to see is one messages program that will
> handle messages as (more or less) generic objects. I never understood why
> every phone I had thinks that emails, SMS, and MMS are different animals.
>
> Even better, the type of message should be determined by the recipients
> capabilities / sender's network. For example if I'm sending a message to a
> friend who happens to be online, and I have a data connection, why not try
> IM instead of SMS?
>
> We have the start of a draft spec in place for this now...but we've yet to
> start on coding it. Anyways, messaging is _huge_ for mobile devices. Perhaps
> even more important than voice for many people (*cough* Harald ;-)
>
> Once we get NEOs out into the wild, this will be a huge priority for us
That sounds very interesting.  I very much like the concept and look
forward to seeing how it is implemented.  Although it is an overall
travesty, Windows Mobile has a single messaging program that you can
configure all of your different "inboxes" in (SMS, MMS, POP, IMAP, etc)
but they are all separate entities.  When sending, you still have to
choose which account you are sending from (but that is not a bad thing
IMHO).

On the other hand, I see some very big hurdles.  First, you would have
to know a lot (not really, but just follow) about your contact as SMS,
IM and email are different protocols "owned/managed" by different
entities (SMS/MMS=carrier, IM=aim,yahoo,google,etc, email=email
provider).  Also, this messaging client would have to know how to "talk"
over all of the IM protocols, SMS/MMS (has standards, but different
carriers sometimes do different things), and email (pretty standard
protocol, so no biggie).

This isn't to say that it can't be done, and I'm sure that it has all
been thought through, but it ain't going to be easy to get people
(especially carriers) to work with you.
> Ah...I see your point and concern. Don't worry, we will make sure NEOs won't
> live on an island. In fact, most of our motivation for this project comes
> from the fact that current mobile phones _are_ so removed from the devices
> and networks we spend most of our time working under. We're trying to extend
> the possibilities of communication. Help turn the mobile industry into a
> more open environment for everyone. Naturally we must be self-aware of other
> "closed" handsets. ;-)
>
> Thanks for voicing your concerns and comments.
>
> -Sean
Not overly worried, but it is easy to get caught up in the excitement. 
I've seen quite a few posts about ideas that evolve around "everyone"
all having a Neo... And that just isn't going to happen (especially in
the near term).  Just thought I would give a quick reality check.

Getting the mobile industry to be a more open environment for everyone
is a great idea and one that I support, but as they say "Rome wasn't
built in a day."  In general, mobile carriers are some of the biggest
control freaks, so needless to say, they aren't going to welcome these
type of projects with open arms.

All that aside, I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

-Jonathon