3. Your iPhone number is linked to your Apple ID (email address) on the servers at Apple data centers located across the US and around the world. That link is established during the initial setup of the particular device. So as far as Apple is concerned the iPhone number, iPad cell number, and email address are synonymous. ... It works the same way whether you are on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad.
Thanks for trying to make the "save", but I'm no closer to knowing what's going on than I was before ... nobody's fault but mine.
I've got no iPhone number, no Apple ID — I never interact with Apple at any level — etc. The only thing I've got is my iMac running OS X Lion (10.7.5) and Firefox as a browser. (My usage is to browse the web and do email — nothing more fancy.)
My illiteracy in this regard is essentially "universal", another reason I've avoided getting involved with mobile devices. And I'm wholly unwilling to take a course in how things work. (I understand the workings of black holes and string theory far better than any of this stuff — probably because those things are totally intellectual rather than practical.)
Let's say I were to download the Messages app which does this stuff. What then? (To this point I've got nothing to hang my hat on.)
