Earlier quoted context omitted.
But the argument does become a lot weaker unless they changed the shade of green after introducing iMessage. If it stayed the same, then it's just the design they chose from the beginning. Also worth noting is that the color only applies to sent messages. When you receive a message, it's just gray in either case. It makes a certain amount of sense to let the user know which transport their outbound message went on si…
They did change the shade of green, and the newer one is much less readable. See for yourself: Original: https://ronstauffer.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/taking-a-pic... Current: https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare...
But let's run with that for a moment, and assume many people do in fact find that more difficult to read. I still have trouble calling that particularly hostile given that it's sent messages, received ones are the same color no matter what.
I'm more open to the green vs blue argument than the old-green vs new-green one. Apple definitely wants you to know you're using iMessage. It just happens to be useful for me as a customer, too -- I'm glad it's prominent when I send a text message instead of an iMessage. It aligns my expectations for what features will work in the conversation.