By the same token, the focus on privacy that makes these technologies excellent personal communication tools also makes them nearly useless from a business perspective. Sure, I don't get telemarketing calls over FaceTime (yet), but I also can't use it to get customer support from the companies I actually do want to do business with, or to communicate with all but the business contacts I have a very close relationship with.

In the end, however, Apple's strategy seems to have worked out for the best. The availability of so many different third-party alternatives means that opening up FaceTime and iMessage to third parties would give users only minor benefits, while perhaps undoing those features that make them excellent services in the first place.

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