From Tim Higgins’ “Why Apple’s iMessage Is Winning: Teens Dread the Green Text Bubble” in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal:
That pressure to be a part of the blue text group is the product of decisions by Apple executives starting years ago that have, with little fanfare, built iMessage into one of the world’s most widely used social networks and helped to cement the iPhone’s dominance among young smartphone users in the U.S.
How that happened came to light last year during Apple’s courtroom fight against “Fortnite” maker Epic Games Inc., which claimed the tech giant held an improper monopoly over distribution of apps onto the iPhone. As part of the battle, thousands of pages of internal records were made public. Some revealed a long-running debate about whether to offer iMessage on phones that run with Google’s Android operating system. Apple made a critical decision: Keep iMessage for Apple users only…
From the beginning, Apple got creative in its protection of iMessage’s exclusivity. It didn’t ban the exchange of traditional text messages with Android users but instead branded those messages with a different color; when an Android user is part of a group chat, the iPhone users see green bubbles rather than blue. It also withheld certain features. There is no dot-dot-dot icon to demonstrate that a non-iPhone user is typing, for example, and an iMessage heart or thumbs-up annotation has long conveyed to Android users as text instead of images.
The cultivation of iMessage is consistent with Apple’s broader strategy to tie its hardware, software and services together in a self-reinforcing world—dubbed the walled garden—that encourages people to pay the premium for its relatively expensive gadgets and remain loyal to its brand. That strategy has drawn scrutiny from critics and lawmakers as part of a larger examination of how all tech giants operate. Their core question: Do Apple and other tech companies create products that consumers simply find indispensable, or are they building near-monopolies that unfairly stifle competition?
My take: If courts accept the theory that platforms can be viewed as monopolies in and of themselves, practically every design decision Apple makes could be construed as anticompetitive. Green text bubbles included.
After all, the original iPhones were designed primarily for adult non-business use. At the prices early iPhones cost, no one felt teens could afford them. As smartphones became more ubiquitous and in various price ranges, then wider teen and young adult ownership became possible.
There’s nothing stopping Google/Android and Android makers from implementing some type of SMS, MMS and RCS system that also differentiates, if desired, which system is being used and users can assess the merits of each. Apple’s iMessage system has many unique features and more added all the time, enhancing the user experience vs what is available otherwise, so iMessage is uniquely Apple designed and implemented. Not Apple’s problem or fault if users and non-users ascribe social meaning to smartphone choices.
I get that all the time when driving my Porsche, or riding my 50 year old Italvega Italian steel racing bike, some positives and some negatives. To each their own.
They need different colours to show performance and price differences else Apple would wear any failings of Android
There’s an iPhone available in almost any price range. For example, my teenage son has an SE that is a great phone for his needs/age, it cost $400 + AppleCare and carrier is subsidizing 50%. My pre-teen daughter has a great hand me down iPhone that I put a new battery in. Cost $50.
Does that seem expensive?
If parents have iPhones, they are going to get their kids iPhones.
Green is of nature, of balance and growth. It is restful and secure, symbolizing harmony, healing, and stability. Green also represents security and self-reliance. Darker greens relate to money, wealth and prestige, while lighter greens relate to rebirth, growth, and freshness. However, too much green can lead to feelings of envy, greed, jealousy, and selfishness. In business, green is beneficial for anything to do with health and healing and promoting natural, safe, organic, environmentally friendly products. Dark green is a good choice for money and financial websites. If you wear green, then wear it safely and to your advantage at work, in sales presentations, asking for funding or a loan.
On the other hand, do you really think Google and Samsung want Apple to produce an iMessage app for Android that locks those messages into the Apple ecosystem and out of Android?
Chinese iPhone users use WeChat instead of iMessage to communicate with each other.
When I txt my daughter ( iPhone- iPhone ) we both get green bubbles, NOT the blue ones. Why ?