Depends on where you're coming from

I don't like Apples "everything must go through us" model, whether that's "file transfer only through iTunes" or "apps only through app store".

The article How HTML5 will kill the native app had some interesting-to-me "historical" information.

The iPhone’s beauty was manifold, but first and foremost, it allowed developers to build applications and sell them for a fee — to users who could conveniently tap their iTunes account to buy things through the iPhone’s App Store. This bypassed the control of the carriers, which had long dictated what phones featured on their “decks.”

So that is part of why people put up with the walled garden thing - they're comparing it with having no options at all!

I have a mobile phone. I occasionally use it for calls. If you exclude spam by my provider, I've received maybe a dozen text messages, and wrote less. I spend a lot of time at my computer, though. So, when I look at a smartphone whose main functions include accessing the internet, I compare it not with a mobile phone, but with a computer. And the thought of Microsoft getting a 30% cut of any software purchase I make just because my OS is Windows sounds ludicrous.

Still doesn't mean I'd want to buy Apple products, but at least the lack of upset in other people makes more sense to me now.