I have an iPad from 2012 which would still be perfectly usable if Apple hadn't marked this iPad Generation as "obsolete", and of course it would be a security risk to use it without updates. However, if I could install Linux on it, there would no need to throw it away.
Yeah, Apple gets a lot of hate for phasing out their products, but they actually have one of the best track records regarding legacy support. This is doubly true in the phone and tablet world, where android devices are often only officially supported for a few years after launch.
You can’t really expect someone to maintain old products forever though.
The argument wasn't that Apple should maintain it forever though. but that they should stop blocking the device's owner from maintaining it themselves.
Correct, but the problem here is that apple products are extremely closed up. If they choose not to provide updates any more that's totally fine, but they should enable developers to install a different os instead of turning the devices to e-waste. There are some projects trying to make a Linux installation possible on iPads, but so far they have failed due to apple's gatekeeping.
They need to make the rule "not my keys, not my device."
You should be able to replace the signing keys for the primary bootloader with your own, and root access needs to be available to consumers who bought anything with a CPU in it.
To be fair, compliance with that in those cases might be easier. In my experience most washing machines, for example, have programming headers near their main microcontrollers, and you absolutely could write your own firmware for them. Occasionally they’ve been locked down and require an exploit to reprogram (looking at you, Nordic!) but in many cases putting your own code on is as simple as looking up the part number and buying an appropriate JTAG cable. Working out how it’s all connected inside is slightly harder, however.
You're right, but this basically implies that you get all access to documentation. Remember the good old days, when a manual included even circuit diagrams, procedure for test points, etc?
Microcontrollers would be included in this. Also, not everything that runs on electricity needs to have a microprocessor in it, like toasters for example.
I'm no expert so asking with curiosity, but wouldn't even simple things like your coffee machine changing lights when the coffee is ready require (a very simple) one?
Not necessarily. You could have a sensor that detects when the water reservoir is emptied that doesn't need logic - e.g.
a floater with a magnet. If it reaches the bottom, a magnet sensor detects that the water now emptied (or in the coffee pot) or
a temperature dependent resistor. If there's no more water, the temperature in the heater rises and the voltage rises on a wire. If the voltage (=temperature) is above a certain level you get a signal
You can then use those signals to do something like switch off the heater, change a light,... all without using a microcontroller. There's no programming needed for that. You might see things like transistors and some basic digital circuitry here but it's all very basic and still far from a microcontroller.
While I don't think that Apple has a monopoly in the phone market, I can absolutely see that the iPad is in a monopoly in the tablet market, sure there are good Android tablets, but the iPad vastly outsells them
And this is not even about monopoly. There's a reason why the new law uses the term gatekeeper for companies that can shape and distort the market instead of monopoly.
