I buy another phone.
Because there is plenty of competition in the smartphone market and companies willing to take my money.
But I stay with Apple because right now their walled garden is exactly what I am looking for.
Think back about a decade ago when there were a number Smartphone platforms. They were backed by (back then) industry heavy weights such as Palm, RIM, and Microsoft. If one didn't like Apple or Google Android, there were plenty of options out there. As the market matures through, consolidation happens, and now we are left with two platforms.
What happens if, tomorrow, both those platforms decided to not play nice? Are the Chinese Android phones with no Google Play Service or the Pinephone really viable and reasonable alternatives?
If the market becomes less competitive, can't we deal with that issue then?
Rather, I just want point out that, for smartphones, we are well into maturity stage of the industry life cycle, which means it is hard for new companies to enter the market, and where existing companies are focused on generating profit (meaning companies will no longer be playing nice).
It would naive to believe that companies would continue to play nice after they are done building their marketshare.
With respect to point (2) nobody's saying you can't continue to shop exclusively in the walled garden. On macOS you can opt for the walled garden via App Store, or download from anywhere else. Being able to download from anywhere else doesn't devalue or detract from thew walled garden. If you like your little nook you can keep it.
Consider this passes and then the Facebook app (or, probably even worse, Amazon) immediately becomes an app store. At that point what's to stop them from loading and running literally any arbitrary code on the phone's of everyone who updates the facebook app? Same goes for an "utility class" app where consumers have limited choice of competitors. Sure, technically inclined people might figure it out and try to raise a stink, but I guess I don't feel like the public understanding of this is good enough for this not to end badly? Remember the "Facebook Research" VPN[1]? And as a society we would be trading this massive surveillance liability for... the opportunity for a handful of developers to make a killing creating a competing store? an upper middle class group to make more money? Apple to make less money?
Sorry, but we live in a world of Titans, and me, the little guy, can't really stand up to them. At least for the moment I can stand behind Apple.
[1]https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/29/facebook-project-atlas/?gu...
Yes I know there are other hobbyist ones, but I don't see them at Carphone Warehouse.