For the average person, including buying apps, this simply isn't a reality.

And Google will now be throwing up massive "OMG! You're going to install an app that isn't from the Play Store?!" warnings to anyone that tries, including requiring some degree of technical skill to do so.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45908938

You can nitpick this, but the truth is my comments are about the average user, and from that perspective, factually accurate.

Not for long. Android phones (with Google Play Services) will soon require some degree of authentication to sideload applications, once that happens then those phones will only have the barest of features available without a Google account.

I do.