Simple explanation for non-techs.

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The device you paid a lot of money for? If it's yours, you own it, right? So, you get to decide what happens with it, and can take it to be serviced by anyone you want, and if you disagree with the default maintenance plan, you can switch?

Strange, that's not what the people who took your money think. They've set it up so only they get to decide what, fundamentally, the device is allowed to do, whose programs it will agree are acceptable to run. They've gotten laws passed so that if you disagree and try to take control of something you bought, because you think that as the owner you should control it, then you can face criminal charges for removing their locks around the core of your device.

If you want to really have control, if you really want to own it, you have very few options right now. Guess what? That big company, Google, that people are screaming about right now? Their phones and tablets, the ones with their brand (not just "Android") are about the only ones that don't put those chains and locks around the core of your device. It's ironic, I know. Just ... don't leave their software on it unless you're happy being part of Google's fiefdom. You might be, I am; but I'm an edgy serf, looking around and trying to figure out if it's worth leaving the comforts and security and heading out into the woods, for freedom. But hey, at least here, I'm not wearing manacles and I *can* leave.
"""