Not to complain about terminology, but appliances used to be precisely the sort of stuff you could repair. I've fixed my microwave, I did not carry it to a geni

Not to complain about terminology, but appliances used to be precisely the sort of stuff you could repair. I've fixed my microwave, I did not carry it to a genius bar. This is the reason why I fear this pernicious business model will spread: it promises lock-in for everybody, from John Deere to coffee machines makers. As far as the iwatch being just a watch, the same thing could have said of the iphone. It was a phone, only cooler. Almost a decade later, ios devices are the platforms where many users do a significant fraction of their computing. And while ios devices may not require on bitcode submission, they limit the users freedom in a way that is fundamental. Image a world were every x86 computer sold post 1995 (outside of the server space) could only run Windows. Besides, even if you own a "creation machine", you'll often be catering to the market of restricted devices (case and point: gecko on ios). EDIT: I'll grant you may be right in the specific sector of non-computing electronics (watches, calculators, etc).