[mikeash]

Minitel was a completely separate system. iPhones have a walled garden for apps, but they interoperate just fine with the rest of the world. My iPhone can call or text anybody with a phone number, and it browses the same web as everybody else.

[_superposition_]

You forgot imessage.... oh wait. Don't defend it, just accept it.

[kalleboo]

You might have had a point if SMS wasn't a first-class citizen on iOS and you can also easily use Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, LINE, WeChat, KakaoTalk and whatever else is out there

[mikeash]

My whole point is that the existence of areas which don't interoperate doesn't harm the areas that do. iMessage is proprietary, but SMS isn't, and iPhones support both pretty seamlessly.

[TeMPOraL]

Remind me, does Bluetooth work with non-Apple devices again?

[mikeash]

Of course. I regularly use it to play music in my car, for example.