I wasn't speaking literally about the XBox. Other approaches would limit the utility of the SD card (in the phone) and needlessly expose to users the differenc

I wasn't speaking literally about the XBox. Other approaches would limit the utility of the SD card (in the phone) and needlessly expose to users the difference between "flash" and "SD" storage. This is awkward and counterintuitive for users, who will wonder why they can't install more than x GB of apps on their phone sold with x + y GB of storage (where x is flash and y is SD). Such is the current state of Android. I'll stop here, but basically, in this case none of the activities you mentioned are hindered (all can be accessed via USB). The DRM simply helps ensure that all storage on the phone can be treated equally as trusted. It allows the OS to assume all storage is the same, and enables it to use all the storage on the phone for all purposes. Luckily, there are many options in the market, and users can vote with their money :)