English: Scott Forstall speaking at iPhone Software Roadmap event on 6 March 2008 (Photo credit:... [+]
As part of the WWDC keynote from a few weeks ago, one of the expected announcements which was included was Scott Forstall's announcement that Facebook (FB) would be tightly integrated into iOS 6 when it comes out this Fall.
The announcement was greeted with applause at the event and most of the tech media concluded this was great news and didn't say another word about the issue.
There have been reports of a testy relationship between Apple (AAPL) and Facebook in the past over the amount of control Mark Zuckerberg wanted over information Apple received from Facebook's iPad app.
But there have been lots of positive words exchanged too -- mostly from Apple to Facebook. In the Walter Isaacson bio, Steve Jobs went out of his way to compliment Facebook. Then, last month, CEO Tim Cook was very cheery in describing Apple's relationship with Facebook. Now, we have the iOS integration of Facebook coming in the Fall.
What does it mean for iOS users? You'll be able to sign in once to your Facebook account and then have iOS remember it, so that you can more instantly "like" something (including apps in the App Store) and send an interesting news item to your News Feed.
But, more than the Facebook integration announcement, more tech media folks seemed to comment on how frequently Twitter was mentioned in the WWDC keynote overall, compared to the one discrete time Forstall acknowledged the Facebook integration.
Does that mean anything? I think it does.
Apple was deeply scarred by the experience of inviting Eric Schmidt on to its board of directors, only to see Google (GOOG) subsequently decide to launch their own mobile phone to directly compete with the iPhone. There are still many years for Apple to "right that wrong."
Apple would have to be crazy not to be deeply wary of Facebook deciding that it needs to jump into the mobile space as well by launching its own phone. Besides the sound business logic of Facebook doing this, Facebook has already signaled many times that it's moving in this direction (not least of which by hiring a bunch of ex-Apple folks).
So, by using the old adage of "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," Apple has to be doubly skeptical of Facebook as a "partner."
Of course, Apple execs will say wonderful things about Facebook and Zuckerberg in public and they are going to give iOS users the ability to share stuff with Facebook from their mobile phones, but - in private - Apple will have to be ready to keep Facebook far away from their future iPhone and iPad plans.
So, expect the close relationship with Twitter to continue -- including as part of Apple TV when it's launched. Twitter will continue to be "first among equals" for social media partners for Apple compared to Facebook. Expect features of a tight integration between Twitter and Apple which aren't available for Facebook.
[Long AAPL]
