Well, I think our difference is just semantic. You're right that it's just Apple's marketing decisions that make iPads "not general-purpose computers". But they

Well, I think our difference is just semantic. You're right that it's just Apple's marketing decisions that make iPads "not general-purpose computers". But they still aren't, unless Apple reverses those decisions, which they won't. Personally, I don't like this, either. I wish this wasn't the direction things are moving. But it is. I'm not as pessimistic as you are about the future of computing, because I think there will always be a demand for general purpose computers — and therefore there will always be a bunch of companies selling them. So I doubt that we won't be able to get them, or that they will sell for crazy premiums — if they did, somebody would make them and sell them for less. What I do think though is that the "general-purpose, arbitrarily capable" computer device segment is a small sliver of what it seemed like it was back in the old days when most computers were unrestricted. I think 95% (or more) of the total "computing devices, including both general-purpose and locked-down appliances" market is happy with shitty locked-down devices, maybe even with ads and invidious tracking. That's just the way it is. And it would be very hard to change that, because you'd have to change the people who are the market for these devices, and make them care that Apple doesn't allow software lets you see porn, or compile code, or learn about civilian casualties of US drone strikes, or any other thing that they don't want to let you do. I don't see that happening. So I think we are indeed headed for a world where the vast majority of computing devices are arbitrarily restricted, less-capable appliance-type devices like Apple's iPad. That sucks for those of us who want unrestricted devices, because it means we become part of a niche market, one that isn't so interesting to the big multinational corporations like Apple with their huge budgets and economies of scale. So we can get an unrestricted, general purpose table computer, for example — but the hardware probably won't be as nice as an iPad, and the OS might have more rough edges. It would be way better, for us, if computers really were inherently open by default, or if a most people cared about this stuff. But that's just my fantasy scenario (and apparently yours), not the world as it actually is.