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mofunk

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 26, 2009
2,421
161
Americas
I remember before the release of the iPhone, you could send SMS text from your Mac. You could also use your Mac as a caller id with bluetooth sync to your mobile device… Right before the release of the first iPhone, Apple removed it. So I see now Yosemite is bringing it back. I wonder why Apple took so long to bring it back. More pressing question is why would you remove it?


This is screen shot I took back in 2008. This was a feature in Address Book. All you had to do was sync your mobile phone via bluetooth.

2648268263_718e872518.jpg
 

apple_iBoy

macrumors 6502a
Oct 28, 2003
734
495
Philadelphia, PA
Yes I also remember this being a selling point the Apple Genius told me about when I bought a PowerBook way back when. I didn't have a phone that would cooperate at the time. I was surprised when I got the iPhone and the feature had gone away.
 

stiligFox

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2009
1,490
1,334
10.0.1.3
Whoa! Awesome find. It's funny how features get recycled like that, especially if they don't become popular the first time.
 

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
Whoa! Awesome find. It's funny how features get recycled like that, especially if they don't become popular the first time.

Usually they don't become popular the first time because the technology isn't quite there yet to make it work reliably.
 

rossip

macrumors regular
Feb 13, 2011
183
0
Yeah, This kind of reminds me of finder tags in 10.9, aren't they just a retooling of color labeling which has been around forever?

Plus widgets are making a return in 10.10 in notification center, another 10.4 feature. perhaps they will be useful for the first time!
 

ErikGrim

macrumors 603
Jun 20, 2003
6,469
5,089
Brisbane, Australia
Usually they don't become popular the first time because the technology isn't quite there yet to make it work reliably.

It worked just fine for many years and with most phones on the market (All my Nokias and Sony-Ericssons). I, too, was flabbergasted when they removed these useful features (as well as most things to do with BT connectivity) with the iPhone.

It was the first thing I tweeted when they re-introduced the feature: “SMS from my Mac? Flashback to 2003!"
 

KoolAid-Drink

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2013
1,814
843
USA
Not only that, but the dock now closely matches that of Tiger's, including the dot indicator. Leopard introduced the new 3D dock, which was enhanced in Mountain Lion, but Yosemite brought back a very similar style from the Tiger days.

Also, Yosemite is the first even-numbered release of OS X to use a single word for its name since Tiger. Look at this pattern:

10.4 - Tiger
10.6 - Snow Leopard
10.8 - Mountain Lion
10.10 - Yosemite

That list may not look like much, but when you think of the three additional odd-numbered releases in-between, it's a lot.
 

KoolAid-Drink

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2013
1,814
843
USA
Can you tell the difference? (one is Tiger and one is Yosemite, using the Tiger background)
 

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SanJacinto

macrumors regular
Nov 3, 2011
236
61
Milky Way Galaxy
When did Jony Ives started working for Steve Jobs? :apple:


"Ive worked as a consultant for Apple's Chief of Industrial Design at the time Robert Brunner and eventually became a full-time Apple employee in 1992."

"Shortly before Jobs's return to Apple, Ive nearly resigned from the company. Jon Rubinstein, Ive's boss at the time, managed to retain Ive as an employee by explaining that Apple was "going to make history" following the revival of the company."

"He became the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design in 1997 after the return of Jobs and subsequently headed the industrial design team responsible for most of the company's significant hardware products."

(Source: wikipedia)
 

9had

macrumors newbie
Mar 30, 2014
7
0
Denmark
I remember also SMS feature in older Mac OS X versions.

There was a tool/driver to support unsupported phones. Which might be one of the reasons why it got removed.
As cell phones started to be more than just cell phones.
Perhaps this feature now will only work with iPhone and therefor be easier to implement and maintain. As there will not be 10.000 Bluetooth devices to support this and that.
 

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040
You could also send SMS in iChat/Messages until 10.9. There was no cost—not sure how they did it, but it was a very nice feature. Skype has it, but you have to pay per SMS.

Still, it doesn't sound like that exact feature is coming back, as sending an SMS from a Yosemite Mac requires an iPhone.
 

9had

macrumors newbie
Mar 30, 2014
7
0
Denmark
You could also send SMS in iChat/Messages until 10.9. There was no cost—not sure how they did it, but it was a very nice feature. Skype has it, but you have to pay per SMS.



Still, it doesn't sound like that exact feature is coming back, as sending an SMS from a Yosemite Mac requires an iPhone.


Are you sure you understood that feature correctly?
It sounds like you are thinking of iMessages?
That is a message but it's not a SMS. In the term of SMS as we know traditionally. So yes that could be done and that will probably still be there.
 

irnchriz

macrumors 65816
May 2, 2005
1,034
2
Scotland
I remember before the release of the iPhone, you could send SMS text from your Mac. You could also use your Mac as a caller id with bluetooth sync to your mobile device… Right before the release of the first iPhone, Apple removed it. So I see now Yosemite is bringing it back. I wonder why Apple took so long to bring it back. More pressing question is why would you remove it?


This is screen shot I took back in 2008. This was a feature in Address Book. All you had to do was sync your mobile phone via bluetooth.

Image

These were features supplied via iSync, nice to see an advanced version return.
 

ErikGrim

macrumors 603
Jun 20, 2003
6,469
5,089
Brisbane, Australia
These were features supplied via iSync, nice to see an advanced version return.

Nope. iSync did just that: Synced your address book and calendar with your phone. But I can see how you get confused.

The bluetooth connectivity from Address Book actually predates iSync as it was released with Jaguar.
 
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