Elizabeth Warren on green texts: Apple is ruining relationships

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Elizabeth Warren on green texts: Apple is ruining relationships

Senator Elizabeth Warren has tweeted a somewhat bizarre one-minute video in which she says that green texts are “ruining relationships”...

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Elizabeth Warren on green texts: Apple is ruining relationships​

Ben Lovejoy | Apr 19 2024 - 4:17 am PT

94 Comments

Senator Elizabeth Warren has tweeted a somewhat bizarre one-minute video in which she says that green texts are “ruining relationships” and that this is “just one of the dirty tactics that Apple uses to keep a stranglehold on the smartphone market.”

Warren uses the to-camera piece to voice her support for the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, but has chosen a rather peculiar argument to do so …

iMessage is one element of the DOJ lawsuit​

One element of the DOJ antitrust lawsuit against Apple addresses iMessage, and Apple’s decision to keep the app exclusive to iPhone. It argues that this is anti-competitive, and attacks the use of green chat bubbles for Android users as creating “social stigma.”

“Many non-iPhone users also experience social stigma, exclusion, and blame for ‘breaking’ chats where other participants use iPhones,” the suit reads. It goes on to note that this is particularly powerful for certain demographics, like teenagers, who The Wall Street Journal reported two years ago “dread the ostracism” that comes with having an Android phone.

Apple says that this is an example of the government trying to use the law to turn the iPhone into an Android device. One lawyer commenting on the claim said that it amounted to the DOJ complaining that people find the iPhone cool.

Warren says green texts ruin relationships​

Sen. Warren tweets that non-iPhone users are being excluded from important conversations – and claims that Apple has “a monopoly on smartphones.”

Green texts on iPhones, they’re ruining relationships. That’s right, non-iPhone users everywhere are being excluded from group texts, from sports teams chats to birthday chats to vacation plan chats. They’re getting cut out. Missing out on plans and conversations. And who’s to blame here? Apple.

That’s just one of the dirty tactics that Apple uses to keep a stranglehold on the smartphone market. Apple has used its monopoly on smartphones to lock Americans into services and amass billions of dollars in profits. Apple even takes a cut every time you use tap to pay and has blocked a new app that would have let Android users finally use iMessage and get those blue texts.

That’s why last month the Department of Justice sued Apple for its broad-based exclusionary conduct. And that’s the right thing to do. It’s time to break up Apple’s monopoly now.

9to5Mac’s Take​

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I can use any messaging app I want. I choose to use iMessage. There is WhatsApp, telegram, Facebook messenger, etc. I can have a relationship with whomever I want via any messaging app. And I do for those I care about for real if that’s that they use. But I have a choice. Seems like they are trying to make Apple do something that is not a choice. I can’t communicate via messaging from PSN to Xbox Live. Should the government step in and make that a thing? Shouldn’t I be able to play PlayStation only games on my Xbox? They are ruining relationships of friends with different gaming systems. Let’s have the government step in there. Yeah…I can think of more ridiculous things too

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There’s certainly evidence that Apple views iMessage as one way to lock customers into its ecosystem.

A previous antitrust lawsuit surfaced an email in which an Apple employee said that keeping iMessage exclusive to iPhone “amounts to serious lock-in” and Phil Schiller referenced it, stating that it showed why “moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us.” Craig Federighi said that making it available on Android would “remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones.”

It’s also true that there may be a social cost to having an Android phone when everyone else in a group chat has an iPhone – if you’re a high-school teenager.

But that lawyer really hit the nail on the head. The law has no business penalizing Apple for making a product and ecosystem people think is cool, nor in trying to force it to share the cool factor with competing phones. That element of the lawsuit is silly, and Warren does herself no favors by choosing this aspect of it to voice support for it.

 

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[Elim Garak]

Not this shyt again lol.

 

[BangBike]

If you tired of a b!tch being all up in the video, get you a girl with green text..

 

[Thick_Necc_Jenkins]

If a chick whines about me and my android..she gon nitpick about me painting nude women

 

[Sad Bunny]

Apple Gang really got nikkaz envious

 

[Sir Richard Spirit]

We gotta address social media and minors before this.

 

[Spence]

I see we are living in Android users heads rent free still

 

[PatCake]

It’s really not even much pricier anymore, thinking a green text is a red flag, is a red flag of its own. Communicating iPhone-iPhone and very convenient perks that make exchanges simpler. Apple started out very innovative, but now it’s become somewhat of a trap- updates, other parts sold separately. Some people also think that makes them better than others?

 

[BruhManFromTheFifthFlo]

Whenever I see green text it lets me know that I’m talking to a poor

 

[Bubba T]

Apple Gang really got nikkaz envious

I see we are living in Android users heads rent free still

Android users always got Apple in their heads and their mouths talking about how much better their phones are, yet can’t let the green bubble babble go

 

[Based Mamba]

This shyt dumb. fukk it if a mf dont fukk with u over a bubble then fukk em

 

[arXiv]

Whenever I see green text it lets me know that I’m talking to a poor

I'm a green texter but this is funny

Also pretty sure I make more than you and have a higher net worth but carry on...

 

[Tribal Outkast]

Apple Gang really got nikkaz envious

I’m like not this shyt again

Android users will bring up adding storage space, mods, and all kinds of shyt with these droid phones, meanwhile green text bubbles make people insane. Like cmon man

 

[DJ Paul's Arm]

Is it really that serious??