There’s no point in denying the fact that users want root access on their phones.
Power users do. Most do not. That alone is the reason Google will never make it a priority.
Power users do. Most do not. That alone is the reason Google will never make it a priority.
But yes: gaming, browsing and texting don't require it. And a big portion of the user base never leaves that box.
I think the most practical solution, given that people are always going to want to push the limits of the devices, is to permit, but disclaim responsibility/liability where possible. "By accessing the root features of this phone, you're no longer eligible for $x direct support, and you're aware of $bignum ways in which this could be a Bad Idea"
The problem with that is too many people are going to put on their disclaimer-blinders, and click straight through anything that isn't Making Their Damn Internet/Facebook/Game Work, and call you anyway when it screws up. Maybe a certain barrier to entry does have some merit after all...
Carriers and platform vendors (but not, in general, hardware manufacturers) don't want users running unauthorized code because they don't want to lose access to revenue streams therein; and by extension that they fear the loss of control means they will lose access to any future revenue streams.
In the case of Apple products, I'd take my shiny laptop back to the Apple store, and they'll deal with it (generally). So is that support cost baked into the already-high cost of Apple hardware+software?
That said, your argument is probably a good one, too--the carriers and platform vendors really do like lock-in, so they would likely do whatever they could to turn off root access.
Yes, there are issues about carrier licensing. Let's not get into that. I'm simply talking about why people root their phones.
Take webOS which you could put into dev mode (essentially rooting) by entering the Konami code (upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart ).
Didn't seem to do them a bit of good. So easy rooting may be a desirable feature but doesn't seem to sufficient feature to ignore other more important features.