[cal_gecko]

I upgraded to the 3G iPhone last Friday, and am LOVING it ... however, today my wife sent me an mms message from her Samsung phone, and when it got to my iPhone, it gave me some wierd message that i needed to visit a website (something like "www.viewmessage.com" ?) and enter a login and password to view the image. On all my previous phones, the image would just come right through like a text, but with a photo attached. Is there some setting I need to enable in the iPhone, or do I need to call ATT to have something added to my existing data or text package? (I do have a text package).

Thanks for any insight!

[Tarponsprings]

Believe it or not, the iPhone only has SMS, and does not support photos in instant messaging. Kind of strange for such an otherwise media rich device. Hopefully, Apple will add MMS capability in a future firmware update.

[cal_gecko]

Are you kidding me? MMS is a basic feature that is available on every other cell phone on the market.. how could Apple leave this feature out of a device like the iPhone?? That's like BMW selling a new car without air conditioning. You must be joking... seriously, what should I do?

[Tarponsprings]

Unfortunately, it is true. Very much like current BMW's not having a dipstick, or spare tire & jack.

[cal_gecko]

Holy cow. No offense, but I seriously thought you were pulling my leg, and I posted the same question over on the Apple site's forum.. and got the same answer.. this is mind-blowing. what was their reasoning for excluding this feature?

[Tarponsprings]

No clue, I was an Apple guy in the 80's, but they pissed me off when they discontinued the Apple III, three months after I had paid $6,000 for it. Then they sent me an Apple II emulation disk, to make the 80 column III act like a 40 colum II.

So, I switched to IBM, and have been on P.C's ever since. The iPhone is the first Apple product I've purchased since then. I assume that the culture is a little different in Apple circles, as not many people seem to be upset that the iPhone does not have MMS.

[BigFatDuck]

hi, i agree it's completely ridiculous. I've had the original iphone for over a year and have learned to just deal with it. it's easy for you to send MMS to other people using your "email photo" option when viewing pictures. every cell provider has a special email address using the recipient's 10 digit cell number. here is a list I was able to find with google, i'm pretty sure it's accurate:

Alltel = xxxxxxxxxx@message.alltel.com
AT&T = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.att.net
Boost Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@myboostmobile.com
Cingular (AT&T) = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.mycingular.com
Einstein PCS = xxxxxxxxxx@einsteinmms.com
Sprint = xxxxxxxxxx@messaging.sprintpcs.com
T-Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@tmomail.net
US Cellular = xxxxxxxxxx@mms.uscc.net
Verizon Wireless = xxxxxxxxxx@vzwpix.com
Virgin Mobile = xxxxxxxxxx@vmobl.com


this is super easy to get used to yourself, however it's a royal pain for others to have to email pictures to you (your actual email address, not one of those special ones above). even though most cell phones CAN do it, i've found that none of my friends can (or care to) remember, including my wife. even getting that ridiculous message to visit a website and enter the codes to view your picture wouldn't be SO bad but, and this is the real kicker, the iPhone lacks a COPY AND PASTE! that's like kicking you in the nuts when you're down! i thought for sure in v.2.0, but no. apple must not have the same quality engineers as kyocera or lg. shrug

edit: in my personal opinion, i have come to the personal conclusion that apple is doing this to push the industry (and common thinking) to using email instead of MMS, at least in part because of the fees associated with MMS's. of course, that's backwards logic when you consider that MMS and SMS have all but replaced traditional email with the younger generation, but perhaps that's more an effect of adapting to available technology. would SMS and MMS have become popular if such a rich and functional email client was available when cell phones first became popular? shrug

[SpinThis!]

As phones are becoming more powerful, if anything the industry is moving away from MMS. Push e-mail anyone? MMS is just another way cell phone providers control your data and squeeze you. SMS was designed to be short and sweet; MMS is really just a hack of SMS to allow attachments.

Why are people so keen on paying their provider per message? (Especially with SMS, it's a shame SMS is so expensive in comparison when you consider you must pay extra for unlimited SMS plans on most providers.) E-mail has no data limits on what you can send, it's free, and it works from virtually anywhere.

I actually think it's a good thing the iPhone doesn't have MMS?I couldn't care less if someone sends me a blurry, low-res picture of their cat that I end up paying for.

[cal_gecko]

See, my wife doesn't have a data plan on her cell phone (she doesn't care to access the Internet or mail through her phone), but she does have an unlimited messaging plan. The camera on her phone takes 2mp photos just like the iPhone, so they're not 'low resolution, blurry photos' like you stated, they're pretty good. I don't know anyone else in my circle of friends who has an iPhone or a phone that doesn't support MMS.. so the iPhone is the 'odd man out' here. You mention that you must 'pay extra' for an SMS plan - the same thing goes for people who add data to their plans.. she shouldn't have to add a data plan so she can use email to send me an MMS. I don't see any indication that the industry is moving away from MMS - I see an indication that Apple is the ONLY phone manufacturer who doesn't include this bread-and-butter feature on their phone.

[BigFatDuck]

i know this is a crude workaround, but as i stated in my other response most cellphones offer the capability to send an MMS to an email address as well. so your wife could just send the mms to your email address, or at least that's something you can try. like i said, it's been difficult for me to get my wife to remember- and forget about getting your entire circle of friends to remember- but it's possible. and doing it this way your wife's phone (and cell plan) will treat it as an MMS, and your cell (and plan) will treat it as an email. sucks to have to do this on such a "high technology" phone, but it works.

[kikiluv]

Ridiculous..

My problem:

* Safari can't even open the link when I try it.
* On my home computer, the login/pw for the viewmymessage link doesn't work. Says error.

What a bunch of crap. So I can't even get the msg the long way? (via the actual web site)