But the point is, they SHOULDN'T have to compromise. That's just Apple deciding what people will use, even if it's the wrong thing. It's taking a little bit of good advice to such an extreme that what appears on the surface "visionary" would upon closer inspection reveal itself as insanity. Hubris has a way of creeping up on you when your power remains unchecked for too long.
You always have to compromise. Unless you would argue that Apple has been busy introducing features to iOS that nobody wants. It's always easier to throw in a half implemented feature with a badly thought out interface than take the time and energy to think things through and do it properly. This doesn't just apply to interface design, it applies to everything.
Unfortunately, doing things properly takes time and sometimes you succumb to the pressure to just get something out there. But your customers will feel the lack of time, energy and thought you've put into it. And most of the time you'll end up having to go back and do it properly at a later date.
In this case, it's a problem of Apple being a regional company. They think only in regional terms, completely ignoring what people in other countries consider to be important.
And their market penetration suffers heavily as a result. If that's not enough reason to stop forcing compromise on your customers (ESPECIALLY with so many competitors in the space), I don't know what is.
You always have to compromise. Unless you would argue that Apple has been busy introducing features to iOS that nobody wants. It's always easier to throw in a half implemented feature with a badly thought out interface than take the time and energy to think things through and do it properly. This doesn't just apply to interface design, it applies to everything.
Unfortunately, doing things properly takes time and sometimes you succumb to the pressure to just get something out there. But your customers will feel the lack of time, energy and thought you've put into it. And most of the time you'll end up having to go back and do it properly at a later date.