John Gruber also does this a lot. Compared iPhones to luxury goods like an Hermes bag, or even locked down consoles like Playstationd and XBoxes and wonders why, for example, Apple should be prevented from locking down their App Store but Sony and Microsoft are not.

But it’s absolutely not a legitimate comparison. An Hermes bag, or a game console are very specialized devices. A smartphone is almost a necessity to live a modern life these days.

Especially if you step out of the U.S. to more developing countries, where many people don’t own computers, or have email addresses. Everything they do, from basic transactions, to government IDs, to receiving govt benefits, etc happens on the phone.

It’s absolutely legitimate for consumers to have different expectations for such essential computing devices, and for governments to step in when the providers of these devices are acting against their citizens’ interests.