[krbbltr]

Mobile phones have always been more locked down than PCs, even before smartphones existed. As have other appliances such as microwave ovens, digital cameras, etc.

You can argue that smartphones shouldn't be treated as simple appliances any more, argue about the pros and cons of each approach... but the fact remains that this particular change in Android is fairly minute and doesn't affect the vast majority of users in any negative way, even the type of user that likes to tinker. In fact, it increases security.