There was a post here recently about how 87% of US teens are using iPhones. As somebody who was a "green bubble" in the past I can see how peer pressure inflated that number.
I do agree that defining a market as "cell phones for teenagers" is a bit disingenuous but I definitely feel like there's something really unfair about not having iMessage for Android. The green bubbles are basically a marker of not being part of the in-group even if you have something more expensive than an iPhone.
The lack of feature parity on the sms side (poor quality videos, stupid text responses when ppl like something) is annoying .. but if you're ostracized because of the green bubble, that may turn out better for you anyway. My kids don't have phones yet, but I'm pretty sure I would be very unsympathetic to pleas for an iphone so they can fit in. It's hard being a kid/teenager, but I'd rather them learn early how stupid/shallow this is, even if (or because) it's painful.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29817807
I do agree that defining a market as "cell phones for teenagers" is a bit disingenuous but I definitely feel like there's something really unfair about not having iMessage for Android. The green bubbles are basically a marker of not being part of the in-group even if you have something more expensive than an iPhone.