>It's also kind-of not fair to blame only the brand/manufacturer, they are complicit -- yes -- but no the only party to blame. I blame the manufacturer for two

>It's also kind-of not fair to blame only the brand/manufacturer, they are complicit -- yes -- but no the only party to blame. I blame the manufacturer for two reasons. First, because they're the highest level in the chain that's likely to have any knowledge of this stuff. Second, because they're the one selling it to consumers, and they have a responsibility to their customers to perform due diligence regarding the software they're including with the device. If batteries start exploding, the device manufacturer can't just throw up their hands and blame their suppliers. The same is true of software. Yes, that probably means accepting huge binary blobs from the ODM or SoC manufacturer puts the company selling it at risk. They can choose to accept that risk, or they can demand better. They have a whole lot more influence on the process than us consumers do. (There are precious few options for consumers. I'm holding out hope for the Librem 5 and PinePhone here.)