MMS as a messaging medium has been very useful in previous years; it allowed mostly users of budget phones to send and receive multimedia content. But I feel the relevance and utility of MMS in today’s mobile landscape should be questioned.
Yes it still allows people to send and receive multimedia content but like SMS, MMS is not without its limitations chief among which are the ‘recommended’ message size which in turn limits the quality of the multimedia content being sent as well as the varying degrees of support for the standard across all handsets. This is because the MMS standard doesn’t specify a prescribed format for the message itself. The other major drawback is the cost of MMS to users. Like SMS, MMS is charged on a per message basis. It is important to mention that MMS is sent via the internet using a subset of the internet protocol. More infuriating is that the per message billing still applies regardless of if the sender has an active data plan or not.
Yes it still allows people to send and receive multimedia content but like SMS, MMS is not without its limitations chief among which are the ‘recommended’ message size which in turn limits the quality of the multimedia content being sent as well as the varying degrees of support for the standard across all handsets. This is because the MMS standard doesn’t specify a prescribed format for the message itself. The other major drawback is the cost of MMS to users. Like SMS, MMS is charged on a per message basis. It is important to mention that MMS is sent via the internet using a subset of the internet protocol. More infuriating is that the per message billing still applies regardless of if the sender has an active data plan or not.
But today’s mobile landscape is very different. Storage capacity of mobile devices has increased exponentially; data speeds on the networks are much faster. Even feature phones are much more capable than they used to be (they now have instant messaging and even push email). Another paradigm shift is the proliferation of Instant Messaging (IM) services. IM, as its name suggests, provides instantaneous messaging (more commonly known as chatting) between two or more parties. And as a bonus, it provides the entire feature-set of MMS without the restrictions on video length, video quality and so on. As a result, IM is more robust and is capable of delivering a richer multimedia experience. Equally cogent is that IM is not charged on a per message basis. It uses a data connection and is therefore ‘free’. This is because anyone using any of the various IM platforms will have either a data plan or access to WiFi. So why does MMS still persist?
The users don’t really get full multimedia messaging and they are definitely not getting value for money. So who does MMS benefit? The carrier networks/network operators; that’s who. They are the only real winners in MMS usage. Global MMS usage in 2010 was pegged at $26b US. According to Portio Research, 207 billion MMS valued at $30.9b US were sent in 2011.
What puzzles me is why MMS is still provisioned for in today’s phones. Almost every phone capable of sending MMS is capable of web browsing and by implication, IM. So providing for it in today’s age is a redundant effort. There is no upside for either phone makers or users. It is time for all phone users and makers to bid MMS adios in unison. The networks have fleeced us enough.
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