Comment by aresant

"At this stage, Apple’s actions to block Beeper Mini look increasingly hard for them to defend."

That is 100% accurate from the technical perspective.

As an iPhone mobile / windows desktop user I would love an interoperable protocol so I could respond to texts from my desktop

But from the business side Apple's decision is totally defensible and clear

The blue bubbles are a luxury item / luxury signal that let's apple differentiate their products

I assume an internal assessment of that "brand" value from blue bubbles is in the many billions of dollars