Today it turns out Apple not only proposed but implemented and shipped the actual feature last year. "It could be an interesting opportunity to reboot a few long-lost dreams". "I kind of get both sides here". "I guess I personally come down to leaving this turned on in Safari for now, and seeing what happens". Granted, the overall sentiment is still negative but the difference in tone is stark. The reality distortion field is alive and well, folks.
With Apple, it's the opposite. Freedom to install third party app? That would be dangerous! Freedom to use iMessage in the browser? That just doesn't make sense! Freedom to use third-party browsers on iOS? I guess most people just don't care about that one.
It's just striking that for every other company, lock-in is bad. But for Apple, lock-in is actively evangelized by the user base.
Overall they trust Apple to take care of things - that’s why they bought Apple stuff in the first place - and feel that anything that takes control from Apple and could prevent Apple from doing its job, would be bad for them.
Apple's incentives more closely align with mine, than any other megacorp.
And Apple is the only company in the world big enough to take on those other megacorps.
So, Apple certainly isn't perfect. But they're a hell of a lot better than any other megacorp. And I choose them to help defend me against those other megacorps.
Most importantly, I don't want Apple being crippled in their ability to fight the other megacorps.