The only thing that makes a game console only a game playing machine is that it is limited by its producer. All the hardware is there for it to be a general computing device.

So when you spool this argument out, it becomes: Google/Apple don't hobble their devices as much as Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo do, therefore Google/Apple should have to open them up more and Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo should not.

Well it's what it is up front. A games consoles plays games and streams some video.

A mobile phone is a camera, gps, web browser, telephone, messaging, food delivery, music listening, video watching, taxi calling, banking tool etc etc etc device.

living your life, Apple and Google get 30% of your transactions.

You're not seriously trying to equate Xbox and iPhone usage in the same category

Gaming consoles are a different breed since they are usually subsidized by the manufacturer. The PS4 was sold below the bill of materials cost at launch (which is waaaay lower than the manufactured unit cost) and remained relevant for 7 years and will continue working for many more. Meanwhile the iPhones that were sold at a premium in the same year are now landfill. You can't convert game consoles into general computing devices without shaking the business model of that industry.

That you expect that the xbox and playstation are not general-purpose computing devices is a massive PR win by Sony and Microsoft, and one that Apple wants to copy. Apple doesn't want you to think of an iPhone as a general-purpose computing device. They would prefer you to think of it as an Apple Store app-running machine, to say that it just plays Apple apps.

Consoles don't open themselves up to any developer nor advertise themselves as such.

Apple, however, definitely advertises the hell out of the App Store, which is open to anyone.

Consoles also sell the hardware at a loss, and use game sales to subsidize it. There's different expectations, advertisements, and economics in play here.

Open to those with an Apple Developer account. It's not open to everyone. The licensing process is just easier than for consoles.

You pay a nominal fee and can publish an App. There's no selection process. Consoles however won't just let anyone on their platform.

AFAIK consoles were never open to any game. Phones only became walled gardens with Apples Store. And they remain completely shut off to external apps only on iOS.

> It's very much arguable that it's necessary for modern life.

Not even arguable. You need a smartphone running iOS or Android + a cellular plan to maintain an acceptable standard of life in America or most other countries today, and the costs of switching from one to the other in the middle of the cycle are prohibitive for most.

You really don't, unless your standard of an acceptable life is absurd.

You can make a good argument for the internet being needed but you would be able to live a fantastic life with 'just' a laptop and a non-smart phone.

Once when I wanted to take a ferry, the only way to buy a ticket was through android / iOS app. Many times you need 2fa app including for work, or to access government services or online banking. Some stores only accept mobile payment.