alt Hacker News> Default all devices to nerd mode and sheep mode is an opt-in at setup time.
The entire point here is that sheep do not need an overly protective mode. It's a false premise.
I know plenty of them. I help them navigate modern tech. I install fdroid on their phones. They lie on a continuum and none of them are going to turn on developer mode (or whatever BigTech wants to call it) because a stranger on the phone told them to.
There is a small sliver on the far end of the continuum that will do things like that. But in general they are sufficiently gullible that no measure that can be bypassed will ever work for them. They require a Fisher-Price device.
BigTech wants to hold that small sliver up as justification for their anticompetitive practices.
I agree mostly with you, especially that last line! I just think we disagree on how big that sliver is. I think it's at least 20-25% of the public that is very uncomfortable with the technology they use, and with the right social engineering, absolutely can be taught to do harmful things to themselves.
You (or another commenter) are right though that blocking sideloading eliminates but one avenue for this abuse, which at first makes us feel good that we then shouldn't have to give this freedom up! Now, the bad news is that from Big Tech's pov, the open Web is the next enemy in the crosshairs. The future "Sheep mode" may simply be App Store (only sanctioned scams, paying their 30% cut, are allowed there!) + a "Web Browser" without an address bar, which can open any of the "Thousands of Safe Sites" on the OS Vendor's allow-list. Getting on the list is of course "easy," and just requires a $999/year subscription, and proving SOC2, GDPR, and CCPA compliance.