Considering that your suggestion has caveats too, I wouldn't call it a BS.

I really hope that being unlike doesn't translate into being diffiecult, inefficient and stupid just to be different from Apple. But please tell me, how would you accomplish this without an account:

- let's say we have an app store with both free and paid apps
- let's assume that we do it your way, so that everything is bound to the device and not user (account) as you suggested earlier
- let's forget for a moment that by making any transaction you effectively bind your precious private data to the device
- let's assume I bought such device and then some paid 3rd party apps to get wanted functionality on my device

OK, so I bought this device and used it for something. Then there's a glitch which means that the device has to be replaced (as my first Jolla was replaced last spring). How will those apps be transferred to the new device if they have been bound to the original device and not to user account? There are couple of ways I can think of:

- apps would have to have their own way of associating themselves to the device and enabling that change (ie activation keys etc) or,
- Jolla would have to store the information based on IMEI, or
- Let's be "unlike" and just forget about such inconvenience

First part means that burden is placed on app developers. This might be "unlike" but also probably scared away great deal of developers. So not that good idea.

Second part means that apps you bought would be part of the device, which would in turn be annoyance when changing devices. Instead of logging on with some user account and installing your apps to a new device, you would have to do it all manually and then find a way to transfer your paid apps (which might be a bit difficult if ie. your old device died completely). And all that for what? To avoid simple user account (which doesn't necessarily have to identify you as a person at all) and being "not like apple"?

When I get my Jolla tablet, I would like it to go like this:

- Login with my user account
- Get a list of my installed apps (on my Jolla phone) to choose which of them I want to install on my new device
- Get it set up in less than 5 minutes with my preferred apps installed

Do it your way, it would be rather difficult to accomplish. But of course, what can't be sacrificed for just being "unlike apple"