I really think it comes down to what you are buying. I buy clothes, household goods, office supplies, etc. from B&M because it's way more convenient than waiting to get what I need from an online retailer. But specialty items? Yes, I could probably track down really specific items, but it might take me a week of calling around and there's no guarantee that I'll actually find what I'm looking for.

Apple has relied on its brand status for years. They've consistently put out decent, albeit iterative, products, but they've failed to keep pace with the competition in areas that actually matter, like having a usable web browser. At what point does the weight or volume of a laptop or the maximum resolution of a phone's camera take a back seat to actual product improvements? I my college posts warnings on the course webpages: "Does not work correctly on Safari, use Firefox or Chrome." The security failings are just rancid icing on the spoiled cake.

Even if it can't, there are workarounds. I seen several examples of pirated Adobe Creative Cloud suites with blockers to trick CC into thinking it phoned home. I doubt a Roomba would require more effort.

That, or a Mass Relay.

Sure, but this means they will have to argue, fight, and filibuster if anyone ever wants to change it.

I cannot believe it took this long for someone to post this exact comment. Glad that someone's priorities are straight. But, to be fair, it could be buried under ice and silicate. Charon's a pretty big rock (relatively speaking).