[Padlock4543]

It is.

The belief that all mobile devices are this locked down is Apple's greatest trick.

I don't even think it is premeditated by the Company's leadership. But the users and ecosystem evolved in a way where this level of fandom and narrative are great for them.

[dmos62]

Apple locks down their devices, gaming consoles are locked down, most IOT and home appliance devices are locked down: even "modular" devices like PCs (and their components) lock down their firmware and close-source their drivers. Heck, most of publicly-funded software is closed-source. Entire industries are based on software that's shitty and closed-source (see Adobe or Archicad). In each of these cases opening up the relevant systems or diverting license fees to investments into open alternatives would be a dramatic improvement to status quo, and not only for the geeks, but for the average person. But, we've not yet realised that; what we're currently doing is what makes most sense to us. Oh well.