But what I'm concerned with is the control of the experience post-purchase – would you buy a car where you could only install tires from the manufacturer? – where you couldn't hang some fuzzy dice from the rear view just because you feel like it?

What Apple is doing is going a little far. They could easily have 'supported' and 'unsupported' apps or capabilities. There are plenty of examples of this today – especially with extensible software. The manufacturer will only guarantee the experience if you stick with what they've given the seal of approval. Anything else and you're on your own. I guess I'd like to see something more like this from the folks at Apple.

But what I'm concerned with is the control of the experience post-purchase – would you buy a car where you could only install tires from the manufacturer? – where you couldn't hang some fuzzy dice from the rear view just because you feel like it?

What Apple is doing is going a little far. They could easily have 'supported' and 'unsupported' apps or capabilities. There are plenty of examples of this today – especially with extensible software. The manufacturer will only guarantee the experience if you stick with what they've given the seal of approval. Anything else and you're on your own. I guess I'd like to see something more like this from the folks at Apple.

I see what you're saying, but I think Apple believes that most people don't want or need that much control over a product. And those of us who do have other options (e.g. Mac mini instead of the Apple TV).