I have several in fact, including the PinePhone which I quite like but isn't really ready for daily use. The issue is Apple is developing a monopoly on high end hardware and there are fewer reasonable options by the day.

And there’s a reason for that. You’re making the mistake of thinking Apple’s special sauce is the hardware. It’s not.

It’s the experience.

I don't think they were making any kind of claim about Apple's "special sauce", only that Apple has a monopoly on high-end hardware, which is true.

It is a little weird though.

- Apple has built a world wide empire selling these products in this way people seem to like

- As a result Apple has funneled that money and made world class hardware that's better than everyone else and leads in security/privacy

- Therefore we should force them to break their model because the others that didn't follow suit have hardware that sucks

That's not the most charitable interpretation, but there's some truth to it.

There’s some extra irony that the others in this case fuck over their users by leveraging their data to target ads.

Yes, thank you. That's the idea I wanted to express, but only managed to do so in a much less capable way.

Don’t forget: “I want to go from two models of mobile OS ecosystem to one, in the name of choice and freedom”

I'm always confused by this one. Every hardware company has a monopoly on their stuff. Sony with their PlayStation is a prime example of this. I've never seen anyone says they want to run their own game on it.

Well, other than the homebrew folks and those inclined to sail the high seas, very true. I don't get how this is suddenly an issue just because the device is portable - where is the outrage that developers can't distribute whatever they like on the Nintendo Switch outside of Nintendo's system (which also takes a 30% cut)?