[userbinator]

Think about users with a million toolbars and Bonzi Buddy installed.

I say let them be. As long as they also have the freedom to remove or not install such software, it's a good thing. Instead we have locked-down devices with the functional equivalent of such unwanted software, protected so that you cannot remove it without somehow getting root.

"Those who give up freedom for security deserve neither."

[lotsofpulp]

My parents grew up in a non English speaking developing country, and they cannot be reasonably expected to learn the nuances of malware laden links to figure out which English text link is good or bad.

Do they deserve to not be able to shop online without fear of having their payment information stolen? Or mistyping a URL in their non native language and ending up at a scam website that installs malware? Or simply having a device that comes to a crawl such that they cannot reliably video call their grandkids?

[npteljes]

I don't mind the lock, but why don't we have the key? There's no reason to centally hold these hostage.

[agileAlligator]

The problem you are describing will be irrelevant in a generation or two, as kids grow up on the internet.

[corrral]

I can assure you that the upcoming generations aren't much better at any of this, on average.

And no, it's not smartphones' faults. Most people just don't "get" desktop OS paradigms, or how web pages work, or any of that, and they don't really care to.

[userbinator]

Most people just don't "get" desktop OS paradigms, or how web pages work, or any of that, and they don't really care to.

That's because they "won't miss freedom they never had".

[agileAlligator]

Nah dude. Most young people nowadays have an inbuilt sense of which links are sus; it's not exactly rocket science. If it looks sus, it is.