I agree with Apple's possible thinking behind MMS - MMS is a very limited technology. Very slow, standalone, proprietary, small/poor quality pictures.
They're trying to encourage a more content-rich and integrated experience by people using email.
Spot on.
The problem is, they're 5 years too early. Unfortunately, most people still don't have email on their phones, and MMS is here whether they like it or not.
I beg to differ. If you have ever worked in the telecommunications/carriers services sector, you know that the only single killer app (ever) besides making calls is SMS. MMS is/was/will never be as popular as SMS due to several reasons which I will refrain from mentioning here. Apple is doing the right thing here and is pushing the industry in the right direction even if it means a couple of malcontent customers.