1- Android is linux
2- You have to review the permission before installing the app, don't want a flash light to access the internet, get one that doesn't request it. In some custom ROMs you can even revoke permissions (it is totally unsupported and make a lot of apps crash but it is possible).
3- In most linux distributions, apps are usually installed with full root access and run with all user privileges. Much worse that Android.
4- On Samsung (and many others) android phones, you can run custom ROMs, which means as much control as on most linux PCs. And while it is not supported, it is tolerated.

Why do Google detractors always quote wrong ? It is "don't be evil", not "do no evil".

I don't know about the newer Nexus phones but for the Nexus One, the official way to unlock the bootloader and flash new ROM cause a padlock icon to appear the same way as Samsung's yellow triangle.

This is horribly inefficient, at least in big companies.
First thing : if something breaks, it is not necessarily the employee's fault so why would he have to pay for it. Second thing, if 10 keyboards break, it is more efficient to send one person buying all 10 then 10 people buying their own. Third thing, if a company hires let's say a developer, it is because his development skills are valuable. Anything they ask of him that isn't related to development is a waste of such skills, especially if there is someone else more suited for the job.

Google won't sell your personal data. Economically, it doesn't make sense unless they are desperate.

By using your data to display targeted ads, Google gets a constant stream of revenue whereas it they decide to sell it to a third party, they only get a one time payment and it's gone. It's like Coca Cola : they will never sell their secret recipe, even if is worth a lot. It is much more effective to keep it to themselves and sell the finished product.

I don't understand your problem. Tags are just like folders, except that a mail can have any number of tags but only one folder.

Nowadays, the instruction set is just a front end and changing it won't do much in term of performance.
I believe that the reason why x86 is so prevalent on PCs and ARM in mobile devices is mostly historical : Intel focuses on expensive, high performance CPUs and ARM on cheap, low power SoCs.

Cell phones and tablets screen are also touch devices and I believe smooth (and therefore, shiny) is better. Matte PDAs exist but they are almost all stylus operated.

Considering how much crap uninformed users tend to install just to ask their their more knowledgeable friends to fix their mess, I don't think that putting a small barrier is a bad thing.

Wouldn't the flammable nature of magnesium be a problem in case of a car crash ?

At least on Android : https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topgrossing
Most apps are "free". Which means their income results from in-app purchase.

For Diablo III (softcore), I noticed just the opposite : on average, gear quickly lose value.
This is understandable because the auction house, with its 15% commission makes a very efficient gold sink : if the prices get too high, more gold will get destroyed by this commission, but it won't be created any faster. It is effectively a negative feedback loop that stabilize the prices. In the last patch, the new actually useful crafting recipes added even more gold sinks. OTOH, once a good item enters the economy, it stays. And once people upgrade they are likely to sell their lesser items for cheap. And now these lesser items are actually quite rare and good enough to clear the game in its hardest difficulty setting.

Cables are just cables. If there is nothing to connect them to, they are worthless.
And the telecom companies will be all too happy to sell this connection without having to pay for the costly "last mile" network.

Systems don't really matter, games do. When people buy a console it is usually to play specific games, sometimes just a single one.
Whatever the age or the technology behind the console is, if there are great games on it, it will sell. It's that simple.

It the correct SIM card is not inside the phone, the phone can't turn on without a password.