Yes, but you have to consider also that people have different priorities. For example, you say that "iMessage is a huge differentiating feature", but if most of that person's social circle uses other services, there is no advantage there. And UI polish might rank lower compared to the lock-in.
I'm not saying you're wrong to value those things, but a good amount of people don't. So no amount of explaining why iMessage is great will convince them, even if they understand and agree iMessage is great, since the "maximum appreciation" for any feature is capped by the perceived value of its premise.