Lack of end to end encryption is a deal-breaker for a lot. And contrary to what law enforcement says, the metadata of messaging — who is contacting whom, when, and how often — is more than enough for non-lazy cops and intelligence operatives to do their job.
I wonder how much of RCS was planned with advertising and corporate partners in mind: will short-codes (and the $20k/year fee) still be required for companies send massive numbers of RCS messages?