To be honest, I have a hard time believing that Apple doesn't have an internal protocol spec for FaceTime and created the protocol willy nilly. Which makes me question how hard it could possibly be to submit an open draft to a standards body. Changing your mind is usually okay, but when you push being open as a big feature and then don't pursue it, people can't help but feel baited and switched.
I have a hard time believing that Apple doesn't have an internal protocol spec for FaceTime and created the protocol willy nilly.
You can design something very intentionally without ever having compiled a spec for it. There are certainly design notes, e-mail conversations, and, of course, the code itself to document the protocol for internal purposes.
Which makes me question how hard it could possibly be to submit an open draft to a standards body.
Assuming FaceTime has an internal spec, that does not mean it is in any shape ready for public consumption. For example, the spec could leave unspecified various things that Apple's particular implementation did not have to address. It could be written very informally. It could have fallen out-of-date as the protocol evolved.
None of this would mean that FaceTime was designed "willy nilly." There are processes less than ideal but still perfectly acceptable.
And more importantly, FaceTime has only been out a year... Right now apple has the clout to force a protocol upgrade on everyone within 1 or 2 software revisions. Opened, they'd lose that, and my guess is that they want to be _sure_ before they release it.
