I think it's more like owning a computer without being able to use a text editor or a spreadsheet program. You can open files you get from other people but you

I think it's more like owning a computer without being able to use a text editor or a spreadsheet program. You can open files you get from other people but you can't make changes or generate anything original. Programming in this analogy would be modifying your printer itself. Obviously there have been some successful computers where users don't modify their files, like mp3 players, but those are much cheaper and more user friendly than general purpose computers.