It’s said that as many as 50% of all iPhones have never been synced after activation. That means a lot of people have no backup of their phone data, and that they’re running outdated versions of iOS.
Apple means to fix this in iOS 5 by obviating cable sync with automatic iCloud backups, iTunes sync, and OS updates over wifi. But how to get everyone on iOS 5 when so many users won’t plug in to iTunes to get the update?
Free iOS to iOS texting in iMessage is a fantastic carrot to get users to upgrade. It’s got network effects baked in: every user benefits by getting more users to upgrade. (I wish everyone I know had iMessage right now.)
iOS developers win because going forward they won’t have to worry about iOS version fragmentation. Apple wins for the same reason, plus Apple Store technicians won’t have to worry about data loss when users come in with unsynced iDevices. And not least of all, iMessage disintermediates cell carrier texting while widening Apple’s moat.
Genius.