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Huh? Don’t WhatsApp, Signal, etc. work in the USA? Or does anybody pay for them?

In the US you can actually lose relationships if you don't have imessage. None of the other apps matter.

The fact that people are shallow is not a reason to break up companies. Some social circles will kick you out if you don't wear luxury clothes, but you don't see the government forcing those companies to lower prices.

No one is suggesting breaking up apple over this, merely forcing them to allow interoperability

This is very much not an isolated thing. People are very lazy and don't want to change their usual patterns unless something goes really wrong.

I would love to not use Discord, but I'd lose messaging with about half my social circle.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/calif-residents-sue-h...

*Teenagers, who are of course known for being perfectly rational in such things.

Next you can sue designer clothing companies for not handing their products out for free to poor teens.

I'm not talking about teenagers. If you think that your social life is the same with and without imessage you're wrong, regardless of how old you are.

Using any other app just adds friction - obviously your best friend isn't going to stop talking to you because of it but weaker relationships might not survive.

And in my circle, my home address, the kind of car I drive, the universities I attended, and the places I vacation all affect -- subtly and sometimes more blatantly -- my relationships. Are you arguing for absolute uniformity across all choices in life?

Or does anybody pay for them?

Yes --- unless they've been anointed with a special "friends and family" exemption offered in select cases.

WhatsApp Business is a subscription product. The fruit deity demands 30% tribute for this from any ordinary developer.

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