alt Hacker NewsA lot of people won't even understand the question, because they can install their apps from the app store, because that's where the apps come from, the app store has what phones crave.
Some of them will even be frightened by the question because they consider their devices scary and dangerous enough already.
A lot of people don't need general purpose computing devices either, but some people, myself included, do want them. I want to be able to install applications from any source of my choosing, including developing my own software.