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It's just become a meme among tech enthusiasts (on Reddit, HN, etc) and tech journalists that "blue bubbles" are a real social problem. The origin of the meme w

It's just become a meme among tech enthusiasts (on Reddit, HN, etc) and tech journalists that "blue bubbles" are a real social problem. The origin of the meme was this amusing post by Paul Ford 8 years ago [1]. They took it and ran with it for their own purposes. For some it was to explain away the iPhone's success versus Android and for some interested actors like Epic it was part of their antitrust campaigning to illustrate the "lock in" effects. It however was never a social problem in the real world (more than, say, young people feeling depressed about seeing their peers' manicured lives on Instagram) or the reason why iPhones sell well (you only had to look to China, or now India, to see the success of the iPhone in places where iMessage wasn't the dominant messenger). [1] https://archive.ph/OcDaO https://archive.ph/OcDaO

haswell 3y ago
Even if this was a meme at some point in the past, it’s a very real issue now. I know multiple people who have switched to iPhone just for iMessage. And the kids these days won’t accept anything but the blue bubble. This is no longer a meme. Or if it is, it’s also real.
- LargeTomato 3y ago
  I switched because people think android users are poor and I don't want to signal to others that I am poor.
  - nani8ot 3y ago
    It's a self fulfilling prophecy. Once everyone has an iPhone to not be perceived as poor, the only people still using Android will actually not be able to afford an iPhone. At least it sounds like that's what happens across the ocean.
    - lotsofpulp 3y ago
      Even the bottom income quintile in the US uses iPhones, especially young people. They are not that expensive. Knowing someone has an iPhone tells you nothing about their wealth/power. What people think it does tell them is where someone is on the cool / weird spectrum. See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38578103 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38578103

haswell 3y ago

Even if this was a meme at some point in the past, it’s a very real issue now. I know multiple people who have switched to iPhone just for iMessage. And the kids these days won’t accept anything but the blue bubble. This is no longer a meme. Or if it is, it’s also real.

LargeTomato 3y ago
I switched because people think android users are poor and I don't want to signal to others that I am poor.
- nani8ot 3y ago
  It's a self fulfilling prophecy. Once everyone has an iPhone to not be perceived as poor, the only people still using Android will actually not be able to afford an iPhone. At least it sounds like that's what happens across the ocean.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Even the bottom income quintile in the US uses iPhones, especially young people. They are not that expensive. Knowing someone has an iPhone tells you nothing about their wealth/power. What people think it does tell them is where someone is on the cool / weird spectrum. See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38578103 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38578103