alt Hacker NewsCar analogy time. Users would be angry if your car could only run on Apple fuel, and drive on Apple roads, and were speed-limited based on what Apple thinks is safe.
The fact that we think this is normal for phones is crazy. And the longer we wait the more Apple fuel stations and Apple roads there will be, until there is no way back.
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Eh, I'm not convinced by the analogy. Phones don't run on fuel (and you can recharge a phone with any electricity supply), iPhones will run on more or less any phone network (which is as close as I can think for the road equivalent).
The speed limit analogy I can sort of see if I squint and I think highlights the reason people buy Apple: they want simplicity in their life. They don't want to monitor the speed limit for every road they drive down, they just want to know that if they're driving they're doing so at the recommended speed and won't end up getting a ticket (or crash!) because of an unnecessary choice (speeding).
Of course if we extend the analogy further: if it's a car then the automobile industry is dominated by just two car manufacturers and they both exercise a level of control over what you can and cannot do with the car. And people need cars, so they make a choice between two suboptimal choices.
I was an Android enthusiast, bought a Nexus One the day it came out. Then a Nexus 4, then a 5. Did custom ROMs, the lot. Ended up switching to Apple for simplicity around messaging and FaceTime with family/friends. I haven't ever looked back, I can't say there's anything I miss. Except the notification system maybe.
I've been telling people this car analogy:
Imagine your car would only let you drive on road approved by the manufacturer, obviously, for your safety. But then they would approve roads only if 30% of anything you paid for in that road would go to the car company.
Sounds stupid? Well phone manufacturer taking 30% of everything is exactly that to me.
Personally I don’t want a world where the government regulates and decides who is allowed to sell phone apps based on safety regulations. That system makes sense for gasoline though. I do want to be able to install phone apps freely though.
Apple in this analogy would be a subway. It runs on Apple tracks by Apple rules. If you live in the city, doing city things, you might never need a car, and the subway meets all your needs. If you have a car, you might never need the subway and think it just sounds horrible. The subway rider doesn't need to think about driving and doesn't want to. The driver thinks having to drive is a feature, not a bug.