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by abaymado 781 days ago
This is an outrageous take. Is iMessage the only group messaging app? If Apple was gate keeping all group messaging, I could see your point.
4 comments

It's not a take; it's simply a description, and it's accurate. There is a significant and undeniable social pressure for young people in the US to have an iPhone.

If you can't use iMessage, you'll simply be excluded from group chats.

Speaking exclusively from the cross-platform perspective, things are better nowadays with the expectation of Instagram and Discord, but you'll still be excluded from group chats for not having iMessage.

I think this is a pretty big generational difference. I think most US citizens born after 2000 are well aware of the green bubble stigma as a simple fact of life.

I think it’s weird that governments would regulate a company on behalf of this reason.

A bunch of teens got together and decided that some things were social stigma aren’t.

I’m sure there’s some schools where you can’t be included unless you are wearing Abercrombie clothing, or have a MK purse. Is it time to step in there too?

> A bunch of teens got together and decided

No, they did not. There is no teenage illuminati pulling the strings. The green bubble phenomena appeared throughout teen social life as iPhones became widely adopted.

> I’m sure there’s some schools where you can’t be included unless you are wearing Abercrombie clothing, or have a MK purse.

These are imagined phenomena which don't have bearing on the real phenomenon in question.

> Is it time to step in there too?

No. If there comes a time where Abercrombie and control widely used social infrastructure, in a way that prohibits non-Abercrombie wearers from participating through technological means, resulting a widely-acknowledged negative social phenomenon, then that'll be time to step in there.

But the Abercrombie thing is imagined, and the iPhone thing is real and has been happening for a decade.

I assure it is not imagined as I attended public high school in the United States.
Was I wrong to interpret the phrasing "I’m sure there’s some schools" to imply you were assuming the existence of these schools?

I'm sorry that was your experience, but it's not a widespread phenomenon like the green bubble phenomenon is.

When a person or entity doesn't do what you want, of course it's time to send in the goons to force them to behave.

What's the point of having the goons if you're not going to use them?

I'm having a really hard time understanding the point of your comment. Let's peel back a layer of sarcasm here, evidenced by your use of the word "goons."

You think it's wrong for the state to enforce a rule that prevents a certain type of behavior. Where does that end? Unsanctioned violence? Environmental destruction? Surely you're not advocating for anarchy.

Ok, so you agree with reasonable limits on the power of these "goons." Do you then think Apple's behavior simply doesn't warrant this kind of enforcement? Why not just say that instead, and explain why?

Spewing random sarcastic libertarian screeds just makes the whole discussion worse.

It's a very common take that has been around for a very long time, so not outrageous in my opinion. Unless you mean outrageous on Apple's part, then I agree with you.
no, it's not, but is the default that works well for a large chunk of people, with an (intentionally) poorly degrading experience if one person in the group is not with the "in-crowd."

Yes, life would be better if everyone mutually agreed to use things crossplatform all of the time. but they don't/haven't, so there is this friction.

Blame the carriers for not implementing rcs and getting stuck in horrible mms. Then blame Apple if they don’t implement it.
Fortunately it's up to regulators to decide what favors the population best.

At least in EU they seem to be active (USB iPhones anyone), albeit slower than I'd like.

In democracies, usually it's up to the population to decide what favors the population best.

Also, in democracies with a somewhat free market, you can simply choose not to buy phones that do not ship the port you prefer.

In democracies, the population decides what favors them, and the government enacts their will via regulation. Without regulation, some companies will abuse their customers when profitable to do so, often dominating over the companies that do not.
Not really. The Department of Justice cited this exact behavior in their investigation of Apple.

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/28/1241443505/green-bubble-shami...