Allow me to be a little bit absurd, but this strikes me as similar to right-wingers who ask me to imagine what would happen if everyone were gay. Yes, society would cease to exist, but I don't think this scenario has much bearing to the matter at hand.
More to the point, as long as there are real viable alternatives in the market, open and closed ecosystems can be fantastic complements, actually producing a deeper diversity. Flash, though controlled far too much by one company, was an excellent bridge that showed people the possibilities of a future internet. iOS has always had some shocking limitations, but it's set standards of stability and interface quality that everyone benefited from. The videogame industry has thrived in every respect by being on both tightly controlled platforms (think Wii's tight hardware/software pairing) and wide-open platforms (think Minecraft). Vigilance is good, but this kind of mix looks optimal to me.
I agree with you there are alternatives in the market. I don't agree that therefore I shouldn't speak up if one player is doing something I don't agree with and that I'd like them to consider that if everyone acted like them the world would be a worse place.
You bring up another excellent example in Flash. We can add that to the list of things (a rich multi-media internet) that likely would not have happened if every computer since 1982 was as locked down as iOS.
I don't believe we have to chose between stability/interface quality and an open platform. I believe we can have both.
If one player is doing something you don't like, you don't purchase their device, it's as simple as that.
Also, the iPad/iPhone was never setup as a generic computer but as a single coherent experience. Comparing it with PC history is a little absurd. The iPad has more in common with a DVD/Blu-Ray player then a PC.
More to the point, as long as there are real viable alternatives in the market, open and closed ecosystems can be fantastic complements, actually producing a deeper diversity. Flash, though controlled far too much by one company, was an excellent bridge that showed people the possibilities of a future internet. iOS has always had some shocking limitations, but it's set standards of stability and interface quality that everyone benefited from. The videogame industry has thrived in every respect by being on both tightly controlled platforms (think Wii's tight hardware/software pairing) and wide-open platforms (think Minecraft). Vigilance is good, but this kind of mix looks optimal to me.