That's the whole issue - it is a general purpose computing device but Apple is trying to prevent users from using it as such for their selfish reasons.
Not only is that anticompetitive, it's also dangerous (state actors can and do apply pressure on them to censor dissenting apps as Apple is the the single gatekeeper) and wasteful (you can't easily repurchase older unsupported devices due to the artificial limits inserted by Apple in what they can boot).
A device having the capacity in raw computing power to be a general purpose computing device does not make it one. Nor does you wanting it to beone.
I'm growing really frustrated with the attempts to force Apple via law to turn my 0 maintenance iPhone into another computer I've got to bloody manage.
I don't understand this logic. You go into buying an iPhone knowing all of the restrictions they place on it. Why would you buy it and then complain about the restrictions? Just don't buy it in the first place. You can buy one of the dozens of other cell phones on the market with an OS that's more open.
I need an iPhone because of iMessage. All my friends use normal messaging, and without iMessage texting is impossibly slow. I've tried to get them to switch to WhatsApp but they refuse. It's a big enough deal that I'm willing to look past all of iOS's bullshit. But I'm not happy about it.
But it’s not though, that’s just your opinion - is anything with a PCB a general computing device? In any case I’d love if all things with any computing functionality be made completely open. Fridges, TVs, microwaves - etc
We classify a general purpose computing device from the perspective of what a user can do with it: if you can word process AND watch movies AND play games AND read books AND schedule appointments AND message people... well, that's not a "special purpose" device, it is "general purpose". Apple absolutely has made a general purpose computing device, and people buy it with that intent (the lawyer of the special district I am elected to the board of seems to literally have an iPad as his only computer).
Yes, it’s general with respect to the functionality available - that doesn’t mean you can do anything. Do you disagree?
I don't understand how people can be shocked when Apple says their devices do A, B, C and D, but people complain and want government action so the devices do E.
The apple device does A, B, C, D, and E - but it requires you give apple a percentage of your revenue and not let you take money off app or they remove it. It's a general computing device as long as you pay apple's exploitative fees.
Not only is that anticompetitive, it's also dangerous (state actors can and do apply pressure on them to censor dissenting apps as Apple is the the single gatekeeper) and wasteful (you can't easily repurchase older unsupported devices due to the artificial limits inserted by Apple in what they can boot).