[gareim]

Because it's their right to, and there's no good reason why they should be forced to open it up. It's all the little rights that add together to arrive at the vibrant ecosystem we have now. Apple had and still has the right to create a closed, but coherent ecosystem that consumers are willing to pay a (arguably small) premium to enter with the promise that the quality advertised is the quality received. Taking away that choice from those consumers does not appear to gain back much in other ways. Would Android users be happier? Yes. But there's no evidence that Apple users would be better off _in the long term_. In the short term, both sides might be happier, but that would be shortsighted thinking. It would be removing a reason for Apple to develop future first-party apps that serve as a counterweight to apps owned by corporations interested in selling ad space.

There's also no evidence that iMessage is anti-competitive and a true lock-in experience. People talk about network effects, but iMessage is only a significant messaging app in one country in the entire world. The rest of the world uses a mix of other apps. This is true even in Japan, where iPhones are popular. If people want to use another app, they can. Let the people choose.

[rglullis]

That's a very long winded way of saying "because I paid a lot of money for glass trinket and I want to keep the illusion that it was worth it"

[gareim]

Why ask a question in bad faith? You may not agree with my answer, but you asked for the opposing viewpoint and I gave it, but now I see it was a waste of time.