I'm generally pretty laissez faire about technology, but when it comes to things that have achieved high market adoption, I am more sympathetic to the EU's position of enforcing standards.
I have no idea why people support corporations creating these weird little walled garden fiefdoms that are actively user hostile. This seems to be a relatively new phenomenon. Imagine how stupid it would be to have to have an Apple phone to call another Apple user. Or to have to go to a Ford gas station to fill your car. Or if you could only send/receive email with other Gmail users.
It's iPhone users creating the social pressure to use iMessage.
Not necessarily for myself, but more generally for the damage Apple is doing to society by creating a divisive wedge between people for the sake of luxury signalling.
Like you say, there are lots of iPhone users who pressure and exclude outsiders to try to force them to get iPhones. Android doesn't do anything like this.
Would you be able to elaborate on this and provide some examples, please. With respect to iMessage, that is.
Spoiler alert everyone: if you want the product feature, buy the product.
Because of the limitations of SMS (not supporting high res pictures, no groupchats over 10 people, etc) it effectively is only for iphones. People with Android phones in the US in iPhone-circles simply cannot be socially integrated and have full social lives