I also mind when things like my tractor or my car are locked down to prevent my ability to use a 3rd party repair shop, repair it myself, or make changes so the item better suits me: The person who fucking owns that computer.
I think there's a very real risk that the concept of "ownership" is going to die if we continue in this fashion.
Do you own a thing if you're prohibited, intentionally - by the manufacturer - from making any changes? I'd say no.
Do you own a thing if it has to check in to an online service controlled by someone else before it works? I'd say no.
Instead you're just renting, and these companies are intentionally rent-seeking (in the worst possible way).
Most people simply are unable to properly handle private keys. All of the systems with the highest levels of consumer satisfaction have third parties that manage (or at least can override) keys on the user's behalf. Systems that do what you're suggesting are notoriously plagued with issues surrounding key management to the point where they never reach mainstream use. i.e. PGP, bitcoin, etc.
Think John Deere implementing software lockouts in the tractor ECU. That is nothing more than forcing their business model onto the end user through digital logic.
You are renting it from Apple. They control what you run, when you run it, what you can install, what you can remove.
By default, they're shipping you a device where you're literally not the root user. I can't possibly think of a clearer argument that you're renting, and entirely at the whim of Apple (which does have root access, and actually owns the device you happen to be using).
The issue to me is that ownership implies the right to modify and change a thing, especially in ways that the original manufacturer doesn't support or agree with.
If the manufacturer is still calling all the shots on your device, you don't own the device!
The question is, do we have a good solution to enable the average user to own their device while also ensuring security and availability?
We have two options with cars, either intentionally implement a security hole, or let the manufacturer "own" it. Because the other option -- tell the customer they're SOL when they lose their private key, is not a solution that is practical (grandma will lose hers) or possibly even legal (manufacturers' obligation under lemon law).
That key disables all the security measures to stop the car from moving and lets the user drive it.
Why should the same key not also allow 3rd party parts to be installed, or disable any other security feature the user would like to disable?
The user has already been given a device the compromises the entire security system, why do you think they need to do anything as complex as store a private key (it's embedded in the physical key).
Same question for phones - The user's pin/password already removes essentially all functional security from the system. I'd add a requirement for a physical switch to be toggled in the case of the phone (a tiny toggle header, or a certain combination of presses on the available buttons should do just fine) to rule out network based access.
In general though, security measures added by the manufacturer always fail, because the user has to actually use the thing at some point.
So given we already have the hole, the only reasons I can come up with for continuing to forbid the owner of the device from actually owning it are
1. It adds cost to the product
2. It removes future revenue from the company (because that pesky owner might choose a cheaper repair shop if they actually own the device... however will the company maintain their monopoly on parts/service?!?!? Think of the children!)
There are some (mostly older) where you can directly reprogram the eeprom but those cars are easier to steal, because anyone can also do this.
So many people complained about not being able to run their on firmware on the TiVo that it caused the GPL to be updated to version 3.
While Turing machines are universal, there are practical limitations of the hardware. A tiny embedded microcontroller with kilobytes (or less) of memory is not an attractive target for customization or repurposing. Today it is probably easier/cheaper to simply buy a Rasberry PI or similar.
Also, some companies understand that they are in the business of selling hardware and don't particularly care what you do with it.
Do you mean that literally? There is daylight between "appliances shouldn't exist" and "there's nothing wrong with appliances." I mean, I agree that microcontrollers and smartphones/PCs are different. There's obviously something wrong if problems emerge at some point along a scale. There's no real defining line between GPCs and microcontrollers.
I also don't think it's a problems if someone somewhere has a locked down PC. It is a problem if most people do.
YOU do not complain about those.
I complain about my TV showing me ads. I complain about my car not resetting one annoying light when i change the oil. I complain about the proprietary connectors on my generic batteries that restrict me to one brand of power tools (that get's discontinued for new proprietary connectors every 2 years).
It's fine if you love exploitation capitalism. But don't go assuming crap about others.