The idea of boosting national pride might be the end goal in mind. They don't need commercial success. If they want to convey the idea to the nation that we can design and build on par and maybe even better than the rest of the world. Just feeling good about yourself has benefits.
Not sure by your statement if you have children or not. But I just finished enrolling my children in a private school instead of the local public school. I really don't care if they are black or white I want my children to go to a school where the parents value education as much as I do.
I thought hacking was about taking things that are purposed for one thing and re-making/re-programming it to do what you want it to do.
If people feel that Apple has created a walled garden they should get one and show us their vision on how it should operate.
The hardware is second to none, you want a camera put one in it's possible. Don't like the operating system figure out how to change it.
But don't just sit back and complain, that's easy.
I want one just so I can watch my 4 year old use it. The other she got a hold of my touch and was tapping away at it, found some app that simulates a brook, so when you touch it it ripples. So she decides to try and blow on it and see if it did anything. I thought that was amazing.
For me I will happily play in Apples garden, pay the fees live with the limitations, because it not only just works it works well.
This article addresses the business model which I believe would make room for better site experiences.
https://stratechery.com/2017/the-local-news-business-model/