Well, another one bites the dust, or as would be more apt to say: another one gets bought out!  This weekend I got a note that Yahoo has acquired the SMS replacement called MessageMe and the service will be shutting down to focus on some yahoo specific projects (are they going to reinvigorate Yahoo Messenger?)

This closure brings back to the forefront something I've said in the past (maybe here, or maybe in person):  In order for these services (SMS replacement) to be of any wide use they need to either have the giant network of users, and they need to be interoperable with SMS which just works, regardless of the phone you have!  One of the failures of instant messaging platforms, at least on the mobile web, is that not everyone has an account on all platforms, and platforms are incompatible if people do have accounts on one or two services.  Thus, I couldn't really message my Yahoo contacts from my ICQ account.  While on the desktop there really isn't much competition, given that the segment of internet users who use IM are self-selected, the competition is quite fierce in the mobile space from the default method of non-voice communication: SMS.

I think Apple's iMessage has come as close as any other competitor, but even then they have some kinks to workout, such as the time it takes to call a message a failure and send via SMS.  It's not acceptable to have messages take up to 20 minutes to get to you if you are sending an SMS or SMS equivalent like iMessage.  This is one of the reasons I use disreet applications on my android phone for SMS and Google Chat.  Google Chat, for whatever reason, is not responsive enough.  It's perfectly fine to use on vacation when SMS are charged by the message, but in the US where I have an unlimited SMS package, why bother?

The other issue with these services, as you will see in the message, is that your messages are locked into a proprietary platform.  The service didn't offer me any way to download any messages that I may have had on it before they disappear.  This isn't cool!

I wish I could say I was going to miss MessageMe, but I never really used it. I only had one contact on it ;-)  So, Adieu and fare thee  well MessageMe :)



Full message from email: