There are obvious benefits to "curated computing", but is there any evidence that the App Store wouldn't work if users were free to use software from other sour

There are obvious benefits to "curated computing", but is there any evidence that the App Store wouldn't work if users were free to use software from other sources? If not, if the App Store would be completely undermined by giving users the ability to install software directly from the web, wouldn't that indicate that consumers don't actually prefer "curated computing", but are merely willing to put up with it in order to have the nicest device available?