It's the iOS devices that are locked down. The lock down was one of the major reasons i got a Nexus One instead of an iphone.
Protest Apple where their behavior is bad, not where their behavior is decent.
My primary concern with Apple and the iOS platform is how they block applications that they view as strategically damaging. The best examples are Google Voice and any ad platform other than iAds for use within apps.
Do I miss the iPhone? I miss the "Apple experience" in some ways, but not enough to move back.
I think Apple is underestimating the power of small but influential communities like this one (followers of Hacker News). The more technologically fluent one is, the more likely you are to move away from the iPhone . . . even though you may have used and loved Apple products for years.
Losing this community will not affect sales numbers directly, but it will affect investment of ideas into the iOS platform over time.
I anticipate more innovation on Android than on iOS until Apple changes their protectionist ways.
Not to be a dick, but I always feel like these operating system posts are written by people who haven't ever written an operating system kernel. I wish people would just use whatever they want and stop taking pot shots at operating systems they really don't know anything about. This isn't really targeted at you specifically, Daishiman.
However, the default kernel state is require a codesign for everything.