Wow. I know you said "a bit" but to compare a cell phone company to a murderous dictator is a stretch even when caveated.
As for "those in less privileged situations" that is quite the weak attempt to turn SMS vs RCS into some sort of class struggle of the proletariat. Someone doesn't want to or can't afford to buy their parents new phones? That person can:
a) continue to text them the way they always have *gasp*
b) download any of the dozens of FREE messenger apps on the devices. Whatsapp for example has more users worldwide (including in less privileged countries) than iMessage. Signal is great for those who value privacy.
I switch back and forth between apple and android quite often. How did I communicate with my apple family when I was on my pixel 4 a few years ago? I just had people download Whatsapp. Problem solved. When I was on android, RCS was coming out and frankly was already DOA. RCS Sucks and is DOA because:
- Currently no encryption enabled
- Of all of my 20+ android friends, only ONE of them could actually receive RCS. This is a combination of android phone makers never bothering to upgrade their phones, carriers being difficult.
- If my friend has to switch from their default messenger to google messenger for RCS, they may as well download Whatsapp or Signal.
- Nobody outside of the US or Canada cares about RCS anyway because they have migrated to messenger apps years ago due to expensive per sms pricing in their countries.