One thing I will say is that with smartphones in the USA there is a huge class signalling dynamic around being able to afford a base iPhone (so your texts don't turn green) and then in getting the latest/most expensive iPhone. This is the *opposite* of a materialist take though!

This is kind of a side tangent but apparently the green bubbles/ blue bubbles thing is almost exclusively the US because elsewhere there's a cross-platform messaging app everyone uses instead (LINE, WeChat, WhatsApp, etc.)

"I feel poor because it's a hardship to obtain a good with little practical utility over a cheaper alternative that serves as a class signalling device" Me (pointing): "bourgeois! That's bourgeois!"

i have owned a 5c, and 8+, and now a 14 Pro Max, and i had no idea what you were talking about with the green texts. i had to go look at my text messages to figure it out. i've just.... never noticed

I'll admit, I like staying on Android in part because it's funny to me knowing that iPhone users care what color my texts come through as, whereas I can turn their texts any color I want

The iPhone isn't any more expensive than any other major brand though

Apple has exploited this by the most insane jump in prices I've ever seen for iPhones.

For reals. Whenever I get a text and it comes in green I’m like. “….gross….”