I have literally never heard anyone say that. IMessage is a nice thing to have, but other than the blue bubbles has almost zero effect on communications. SMS text messages work fine and are free. Same for WhatsApp and FB Messenger.
> other than the blue bubbles has almost zero effect on communications. SMS text messages work fine and are free. Same for WhatsApp and FB Messenger.
That is simply, objectively, untrue.
There are so many falsities with your statement I don't know where to begin.
Lets start with money transfer. I often use applepay right in iMessage to split bills between parties right at the table. I iMessage them the bill and their portion, and right there through iMessage they reimburse me through apple-pay, right to my bank.
During the last major Hurricane in FL, iMessages would send while SMS and all TEXTING would not. Cellular services were down. Texting was down, but iMessage worked just fine with a WiFi connection.
My interactions on iMessage are saved to iCloud. Prior to switching to Apple devices, in 2016, my work phone was damaged beyond repair at a construction site. All of my texts were saved on device, and not recoverable. This does not and cannot occur on iMessage saved to iCloud.
This is all just off the top of my head, and these are features that are desirable and utilized in iMessage, and not available through sms.
Objectively speaking, your statement about iMessage is just plain wrong.
That does sound like an arrogant arsehole if serious, though that’s the kind of things one would say in jest around here. Not sure how prevalent that is, if sincere. Even in the UK, where Apple has a near-50% market share AFAIK, it means not communicating with half the population, which sounds impractical.