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iPhone Users, What’s the big deal with MMS?

Posted by Chris Leckness on September 25, 2009 – 9:17 am  Share

mms So, today all the “Buzz” is about AT&T enabling MMS for the iPhone customers. It seems as if it’s a huge deal to all iPhone users, but is it really or is it just something to whine about not having. Do people still use MMS? Other than my daughter, I don’t think  there has been an MMS message sent from any phone under my plan in 2 years. (that’s my line, my daughter, my wife, my mother, and my father)

I decided this morning to look for some stats about the MMS using demographics and I came up kind of short, but I did find a great post from a couple months ago on the iPhone blog. Rene posed the same question and inserted a poll. The results really surprised me. Would these results be the same had the iPhone had MMS to start with? Who knows. Anyhow his poll showed that 84% would use MMS if it as available. That shocks me really.

With all the other methods of sharing media available today, why MMS? I mean, we have email. We have Flickr, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter even.

Do you or WOULD you use MMS?

View Results

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I decided to have a poll of our own here. Strait forward, yes or no. Do you or would you?

Also, if you missed it, I posted about a video AT&T put out explaining MMS. Over at our iPhone blog, Adam posted info on how to enable MMS earlier too.

Help me understand people, who and why do people use MMS? Is the lack of the “ability”  to use it the ruckus or would most iPhone users sincerely use MMS on a regular basis? Discuss…

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Chris Leckness (3547 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Chris Leckness is the Owner/Administrator of Mobilitysite. He is a Microsoft MVP, Mobile Devices and a member of the exclusive focus group, Mobius. Chris runs a Mobilitysite, GotZune, and a few other smaller sites and blogs. His personal blog is chris.leckness.com.


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  • Fox801
    Let me just say this... a picture paints a 1000 words. You're right that MMS is not important... but c'mon.. it's an iPhone which is a "Media" phone which displays pictures better than most phones out today. The convenience of taking a picture of where you are at that moment and sending it instead of waiting to get to a computer to download and send it via email is just one of the reasons why I love MMS. I was disappointed with apple or AT&T for disabling this feature when MMS is commonly used on ALL MMS capable phones especially the iPhone instead of just leaving it enabled. I don't know how many times as a tech myself where MMS hasn't been useful to me. Taking pictures of damaged items and sending it to the office instead of waiting to get to a computer to email it is so much more convenient. Anyways... that's my opinion.
  • Taking pictures of damaged items and sending it to the office instead of waiting to get to a computer to email it is so much more convenient.

    And here I thought that the iPhone included an E-mail client. :D

    Seriously, is sending an E-mail with a picture attachment much worse than MMS? If the person you're sending to doesn't have E-mail, most carriers seem to have E-mail gateways (5551234567@mms.carrier.com or something similar).

    Having to know which carrier somebody is on and keep a list of gateways would be annoying, but a "pocket computer" could probably figure out which carrier a number corresponded to and use the appropriate gateway, couldn't it? Who knows, maybe "there's an app for that."

    Steve
  • I use MMS rarely and the lack of it would hardly be a deal breaker....

    However, anyone who has been redecorating and at work while their spouse is shopping knows how much more useful a picture of upholstery via MMS is then "well, it is sort of green but not really green green, with flowers like my aunt Phyllis had on her wallpaper...you'd just have to see it.."

    A useful tool indeed...I am sure many marriages and decorating budgets have been saved by it.
  • Yes folks. I am serious. I really never saw the reasoning for MMS in modern phone days. Most "newer" phones have ways to share to services online,etc... I just assumed (yes, I know what that means) that people used the cool newer media distribution methods more so than MMS.
  • If you are a "techie", and I think that you are then I also assume (yea I did it too) that you understand the value of "backwards compatibility". And that is basically what this boils down to. Doesn't it frustrate you when we get an computer operating system "upgrade", but they for whatever reason remove a feature that you use to use from the OS, and that everyone else still uses that hasn't upgraded to the new system? It's that same thing. Until MMS becomes obsolete on others phones the iphone MUST be backwards compatible or it risks alienating itself from new and existing potential buyers. That it seems is the main problem. If everyone used email as the only means to send and receive photos from their cell phone then MMS would be obsolete… but that’s not the case.
  • Rob
    MMS is definitely not the most important feature of a phone, but it's just one that every phone should have. In my last year and a a few months of iPhone usage, I can't count the times I've had people send me an MMS, because it's quick and easy, and I've either not viewed it or had to go to that damn viewmymessage.com site and try to remember or write down some weird msg id and password. Friends who send pictures don't always realize your iPhone can't receive them, so they keep sending. A friend asked before "hey, did you get that pic I sent you?", and had to to explain that I never viewed it because it's too big of a pain in the ass, and she was shocked that my "fancy iPhone" couldn't receive an MMS. I may not NEED MMS, but it sure would be nice to have, since everyone else does. Just glad it'll be here today.
  • Marc
    Are you joking? MMS is the fastest way to send a picture, maybe not so good on some video, but who has time to email a video to another person who does not have a smartphone? The vast majority of people still use regular handsets and have MMS capabilities, so when my mom sends me a picture, she doesn't know how to send it to my email, and what about when I wanna send a pic to someone who is not sitting in front of their computer.
  • Ok its plain and simple. If I am at a sporting event, the zoo, on vacation, or where ever and I want to send a photo to my mom, dad, siblings or friends; the easies/quickest way to do that is take a photo with my cell phone, and send it to thier cell phone just as if I had TXTed them. Asking why someone wants MMS is the same as asking why someone would rather TXT than send an email from there phone... its quicker and its easier, and thats all there is to it. The recipient of a MMS message almost always has their cell phone one hand and will recieve the MMS/TXT immediately... whereas they may or may not have access to email on thier cell phone, or may not have email at all, or may not check their email very often. Not everyone is as "wired" as everyone else, but most everyone has a cell phone... and most all cell phones (with exception to the iphone for the last 8 years) have MMS. For me, its simply about being able to send and receive photos from my cell phone.
  • shrike1978
    Do people still use MMS? The answer is most certainly yes. The problem is, I usually get a few MMS messages a month to my iPhone. Without MMS support, this has required me to log into the AT&T website with a message ID and password from the text that does get delivered to get the message, and even with copy/paste functionality on 3.0, this process is an absolute nightmare.

    MMS is a funcitonality that should have been on the phone since 1.0. There was no excuse to launch without it.
  • I can agree that the functionality SHOULD have been there from the beginning. My issue is how big of an issue it is to many.
  • mccoy1906
    With MMS, the pic/video shows up in your SMS thread. You can go back and reference it and see the conversation around the picture. It's a few less steps to use MMS as well (I know...not by many). It loads much faster via MMS than a pic sent as an email attachment too. With MMS, you can instantly forward just the picture (unlike with email, you have to forward the entire email with the pic OR save the pic and THEN send it). These are minor things, but I will definitely be using MMS for pics and Videos!
  • badersk
    I never have. I always use email so I don't have to pay extra.
  • Holy crap everyone. Are you serious? That many would or do use MMS? I am once again... SHOCKED. Care to share why you use MMS instead of other "newer" ways to share?
  • MMSLover
    Why do I use MMS instead of newer ways? The reason is the same as why do I use SMS instead of simply email: It is faster, easier, and more convenient.

    In order to send a photo I took through some of the other methods you mentioned requires multiple steps (opening an app or visiting a website, logging in, uploading, etc). With MMS, I simply snap a photo, press the 'Email' button, type in the address, then press 'Send'. Easy.

    I only recently started using MMS (about one or two months ago) and I admit that I am quite attached. It is incredibly fun to take photos of whatever interesting things you see and sending it to friends/family.
  • I don't get it either, I have MMS from my provider and have a smartphone and have never sent one, not even once, but most of the people i know own blackberry's...or iphone's so i guess that's the crux of the matter.
  • scottschroeder
    Yes, if you ever owned an unlocked iphone on TMobile, you would see just how easy it is to send an MMS from an iphone. iPhones are the quickest and least amount of keys needed to press to send an MMS. THATS why iPhone users are anxiously awaiting this update. The iPhone is obviously the best hone out there and the ability to have a legit and not unlocked phone with the data speeds it has now is wonderful. You can unlock the iPhone for TMobile, yes, but you can nOT use the 3G data network on Tmobile with the iPhone. No unlocked iPhone can run 3G on any network except tmobile. It MAY SAY 3G, but do a speedtest, it's still 2G / EDGE.
  • Charlie
    I think you make a good point, we all use e-mail etc. However, I think what you miss is that not everybody uses a smartphone, and thus does not have access to e-mail 24/7. I think people like the idea of being able to share photos "instantly" with anybody who has a cell phone and messaging plan. I think that is the great factor behind the excitement for MMS.
  • GVP
    I agree with Charlie, the great thing about MMS is that a data plan is not required to use it, many people don't have data plans but like to take pictures with their phones and send to friends / family. Maybe in US it's not a big deal because your data plans are cheap, but in many countries it's not affordable...
  • On Verizon Wireless in the U.S., they now charge for data to use MMS ($2 per MB) -- at least on some phones/plans. They used to count MMS time as minutes against your voice plan.

    This is a big deal because they also charge $0.25 per picture message if you don't have a messaging plan. So, to avoid any MMS charges, you need both a messaging plan and a data plan. I find that ridiculous. It also means that you can't use your free nights and weekends to send "free" messages with only a messaging plan.

    Steve
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