This is correct, at face value. However, the comparison is usually this:

Option 1:

- has a removable battery, headphone jack and/or stereo speakers

- security / OS updates stop in 6 months (or never happen or are years behind)

- camera is OK

- getting kind of slow

- proprietary version of Android with bloatware

Option 2:

- no removable battery, headphone jack or stereo speakers

- security / OS updates for 2-3 years

- camera is better in low light

- it's fast right now

It's like evolution, except there aren't enough options and the timeline is too short and bad features are too coupled with good features.

Consumers have "insisted" on that in the same way they've insisted on having more hormones, preservatives and color treatments in their food.

Companies have switched to non-replaceable batteries because it's good for their bottom line. It's definitely market forces that are in play, but not the ones in the textbooks where consumers hold all the cards.

Yeah. A lot of "voting with your wallet" boils down to "Buy this crap and kvetch about it ...or, I guess, have nothing?"

I think that's a stretch. I don't think that consumers insisted on this at all. I think that they were simply willing to put up with it.