Figured as much. It's been in airplane mode the entire time I've owned it and I just put books on it with calibre. I guess this somehow mirrors how some people feel about their Apple devices? They don't notice it being locked down because it already does what they want?

The other alternative is what I can't relate to at all: the device doesn't do what they want due to being locked down, but they're ok with the trade-off. I don't have a problem with it, but I can't relate.

This is what I don't get as well. The limitations of the devices are well known. Why would you drop the money on a thing that doesn't do what you want it to do? Just because someone feels a device has the ability to do something other than what it is actually doing doesn't mean the vendor has to allow it to do that thing. It was designed and tested against what the vendor wants it to do. Allowing it to do other untested thing just means more support headaches down the road.

I use both an iPhone and a Kindle Paperwhite. Like yours, my Paperwhite has been in airplane mode since I bought it, and I've never cared about missing anything on iOS either.

I am well aware that of the choice I'm making, and will continue to make the same choice in both cases.