So, what you're saying is that if you buy Apple's hardware and purchase additional software and hardware to complement it, that the barrier to switching to another handset manufacturer's products is in fact higher than the same barrier if you had not started out with Apple. That is
Imagine I bought an iPhone today. In order to do many useful things with it, I would desire to purchase various apps, and I might even purchase extra chargers, an alarm clock dock, a speaker dock for my living room, etc. Now, suppose that HTC comes out with a new handset that I think is really the best thing ever, and I decide I'm going to shell out the money to switch. Suddenly, all the money that I spent on secondary things has to be spent all over again because of "incompatible technologies" and "historically-justified exceptions". I'll probably decide not to switch to the new HTC handset I really liked, and I'll buy a new iPhone instead.
Now imagine I had bought a Samsung phone to start with. In order to do many useful things with it, I would purchase various apps, and I might even purchase extra chargers, an alarm clock dock, a speaker dock for my living room, etc. Now, suppose that HTC comes out with a new handset that I think is really the best thing ever, and I decide I'm going to shell out the money to switch. Suddenly, all the money that I spent on secondary things
The reasons for the lock-in might be justified historical accidents, and they might be deliberate and malicious. It doesn't matter. They still cause lock-in, and lock-in is still unpleasant at best.
http://mbxclusive.com/SOCA_are_wankers
http://mbxclusive.com/in_the_pocket
"Conversion, fastidious Goddess, loves blood better than brick, and feasts most subtly on the human will." -- Virginia Woolf, "Mrs. Dalloway"