Probably because you're not the target audience. That is perfectly fine as well. I imagine most of the HN audience would be able to avoid bricking their devices

Probably because you're not the target audience. That is perfectly fine as well. I imagine most of the HN audience would be able to avoid bricking their devices if they all came with root access. But I buy Apple. For myself, my parents, and I recommend to relatives etc. The tight leash is a feature not a limitation. I know if I set up an iPhone or iPad for my mum the apps aren't going to try charging her credit card or installing bloatware and so on. The tight integration between all the services is a plus as well - something I just don't trust on other devices. Using the parent example again, my mum doesn't need to understand iCloud syncing, she just knows that all her photos are safe on the device and will show up on the computer.