Yes, I’m going to go there so hang out… it’s going to be a wild ride.
First of all, I am, in fact, a traditional computer user. I’ve been using computers since the early days of computers. We’re talking back when Windows 3.1(11111) for Workgroups was the cat’s nuts. I remember tweaking autoexec.bat and config.sys files and feeling like I was playing with arcane magics. I remember playing with DIP switches on the motherboard and daughterboards to manually set IRQs back before we had such fancy things like Plug-and-Play. I remember dealing with IRQ conflicts and all the headbanging against the wall hell that came with it. I remember DLLHell with Windows 95 where if you installed one program it might install a version of a DLL that’s newer than that of another program might expect and thus program number one might not work. Yes, I was around for it all. I even have a fully tricked out gaming PC with RGB-puke spewing out of his glass-paneled desktop case. I built my own systems by going to Microcenter, buying parts, and lovingly putting them together with my own two hands.
However, I also know that this kind of ecosystem and environment isn’t for everyone. Even as an experienced computer user, I see the pitfalls of it. We’re talking about everything from viruses, to malware, to ransomware, and every God damned piece of shit in between. I know how to handle it; I know how to keep myself safe. But I also know that I am, in fact, in a very small minority of computer users. Most computer users don’t have any idea what they’re doing and I’m not saying that as an insult. These people may be doctors, lawyers, scientists, and other various professions that represent a level of genius that I can’t even hope to imagine being. But you know what? While they might be geniuses in the own right, they have no want to have to deal with knowing how to use and to keep a computer safe and secure and their data out of the hands of bad guys.
This is where Apple iOS comes in. It represents what is essentially a console in your hand. It holds your hand everywhere you go. It allows you to download apps, run them, and otherwise be safe and secure in the idea that your system and your data on it will be safe. If you want to remove/uninstall an app, you really don’t have to think about it; you just hold your finger on the app icon until it starts to jiggle and click the X overlay and boom, it’s… gone. No worrying if an uninstaller left something behind that might come back to haunt you later. No worrying if a piece of it is still there taking up disk space on your system. When you remove an app on iOS it truly is gone.
On Windows, Linux, and yes… even MacOS, this is not true for these represent traditional computers. And let’s be honest with ourselves here, Windows is a virus/malware filled cesspool of filth. I, as a traditional computer user, have to be on guard all the time to make sure that nothing happens to my system or the data that’s on it. I have to be ever vigilant of what will come down the pipe and threaten everything that I have on my system. Meanwhile, I have my iPhone where I don’t have to worry about that kind of stuff. I can (largely) throw caution to the wind and just use it.
As for sideloading on iOS… I’m sorry, I don’t agree. Sideloading will, in fact, open a door into an otherwise secure system built for people who largely don’t know and don’t care to know how to use a computer and once that door is open, it will open it up for all kinds of garbage and filth and it’ll never be able to be closed. Oh, but you can say that you can turn the option off. Yes, but if the option is there, it can be abused, exploited, and otherwise used against the user. Basically, I’m saying that sideloading has no business on iOS. Period.