> Printer cartridges were even signed against the printer themselves.

Printer cartridges used to be dumb and replacable by mechanically identical 3rd party products.

> And walled gardens aren't weird. It has always been the default. I can only install console games approved by Sony, Nintendo etc for example.

Those are gaming devices, not general purpose edge computing devices under which smart-"phones" fall for all intents and purposes. Personal computers are a much better reference point.

Personal computers are probably the only reference point in favor of “install anything you want”. Walkmans, TVs, game consoles, MP3 players, household appliances, automobiles, flip phones etc all come without the ability to run custom software. I think the only reason PCs didn’t start with an App Store model is that they predate the internet, so there was no way for them to really control distribution.

Frankly I think there’s a reason why no more open model is succeeding — the demand is not there and the app stores provide the utility most people want. I used to jailbreak my iPhone but there’s really no need anymore.

Many electronic devices simply lack the technical features or input channels that would allow third party software to run. I find it much more worrying when the devices have all the infrastructure in place to do so, but their manufacturer decides to actively restrict the users' freedom in that regard.

> I can only install console games approved by Sony, Nintendo etc for example.

That's an argument against consoles, not in favor of walled gardens.

installing trough package manager has been the default on Linux for what, 20 years now? it was called installing from sources instead of side loading, but it wasn't the default, and it's something you can do anyway in both iPhone and Android and it takes more or less the same effort and knowledge. the outliers were dos and Windows, and even then it caused loads of issues so much they had y to add multiple layers of checks between signatures, uac, blacklists and defenders because average users cannot be trusted to manage their own systems

> it was called installing from sources instead of side loading, but it wasn't the default, and it's something you can do anyway in both iPhone and Android and it takes more or less the same effort and knowledge.

Really, can you please explain how to install apps on an Iphone direct from the source for free permanently?

I didn't say free.

With Linux package managers, you can easily add additional repos.

And of course on Windows, Linux and MacOS, you can install whatever you like, from wherever you like. Android allows you to side-load apps (but I'd prefer if it made it much easier to do so), whereas iOS makes it both difficult and costly.

package managers let you add additional repositories with little hassle.

Consoles are very different, the hardware is subsidized by Sony where with Apple you pay a premium. Also consoles are more an entertainment device you use a few hours a day or just in weekends where smartphones are replacing general computers.

Comparing a smartphone and a console is a big stretch

Neither Xbox One nor Playstation 4 were sold at subsidized prices even at launch. That trend died with the 7th generation consoles.

Console manufacturers take a loss at the start but they start to make a profit as the components become less expensive.

And a console is exactly what Apple has tried to emulate so of course it's relevant.

>And a console is exactly what Apple has tried to emulate so of course it's relevant.

You could also say that Apple is emulating the printer manufacturers , some practices are similar but there are important differences.