Youre brilliant, you paid for the watch, but you cant use it the way you want because of Apple.
Edit: I have been corrected. 100 dollars buys you 1 year. 7 days is 'for free', so it's basically a tithe.
We would laugh if someone bought a sedan and complained that it can't haul any pallets of goods. Why do we make that complaint for electronics?
It's nonsense.
You might be savvy enough to not be concerned about being fooled into installing malware on your device. But this design decision was not for you.
The main reason people buy Apple devices today is that the software ecosystem is consistent and predictable. This isn't silly, this is a core value proposition.
Meanwhile, millions of Android devices have shipped with with literal malware from the factory. I know because I used to develop custom ROMs to remove the malware that my own carrier installed on my phone.
I doubt Apple is primarily concerned about losing money to side-loading. The vast majority of users purchase apps from the default store on their phone.
But also nothing youve written prevents what both of us want. The average user can use their iPhone as they always have. Those of us who care about freedom could install what we want. Apple sells phones. You dont need to defend everything they do, eh, they dont actually care about you or me.