Or lack of real software ownership e.g. no root allowed!)

There is not a lot of software on my phone I would care about “owning.” I am not writing code on my phone; I am using it for routine tasks. I don’t have a need to dig into the internals and the “benefits” of doing that are overshadowed by the security risks.

I am not sure that's the best example ..

Not being able to install any software without Apple acting as the middleman is very concerning for both 3rd party devs and consumers.

But that should not be something that has anything to do with root.

FWIW, Android does this better : you do have a play store but you can also sideload any app. You just need to confirm that you know what you are doing and the play store can still scan these apps against known malware signatures.

Wow. No love. Isn't lack of root like buying a house but the builder refusing to give you a master key or permission to change the locks?

I would say it's more like seller not allowing you to dig the whole house inside out and build one from scratch by choosing the size of brick, how much they were baked, brand of cement used and all that. Like they do not allow something like this in gated communities/apartments.

99% of Apple consumers think root is something that grows out of the bottom of a tree.

Are you sure you don’t mean 99% of all phone or computer users do not know what root means?