Sometimes, you wonder if you’re getting funny glimpses of coming changes in technology. In this case: I wonder if Apple is really pushing for a convergence of messaging.

SMS is one of the most profitable parts of the telecom carriers’ business—it’s the closest thing that there is to a form of universal push messaging, but they’re so greedy that they’re hesitant to open up SMS messaging in ways that would allow more innovation. So it looks as if software people are starting to end run around them—between Blackberry supporting their own messaging system (which, I hear, is a lifesaver for international long-distance relationships), Twitter direct messages for the webheads, and now Apple supporting a special iPhone type in Contact profiles and always showing the choice to short message an email address. I wonder if Apple is planning to take their App notification structure and have their own messaging layer?

Convergence of telecom and web services is happening in a lot of places beyond the client software. From Jamie Siminoff’s coming GRID service which will mix voice and SMS messaging on the same ten digit phone numbers, to Twilio’s beta of a similar offering, to Clickatell which offers that service everywhere but the US, to Google Voice, to Ribbit, to my old company—Mobile Commons.