> There's no such thing as a "good way" of locking someone in.

You're focusing too much on the word "lock" and completely ignoring the actual meaning. "Locking someone in" by providing so much value that they don't want to go elsewhere is a great thing!

> Your claim that Apple is all about cross-platform data formats and non-proprietary protocols "where appropriate" is not my experience at all.

Please explain, then. As I mentioned in another comment, the only data I can think of from an Apple product that I can't export somehow is my iMessages, and the only purchased content (not apps, it should be obvious why those aren't portable) is TV/Movies, which is because they're DRM'd, which is a requirement from the content producer rather than something Apple chose to do.

Nothing in your last paragraph is at all relevant to being able to export your data, and it's got a lot of misinformation in it as well. I'll respond to some of the more obvious ones.

> prohibiting users from installing software not signed by Apple

This is a major security issue, and isn't even remotely relevant to the discussion about leaving the Apple ecosystem. And of course you can actually install self-signed open-source software through Xcode.

> lack of SD card on iOS devices

A cursory internet search pulls up multiple lightning-enabled SD card readers that you can plug into your iOS devices.

> Wi-Fi direct

Wi-Fi direct isn't a video streaming protocol, it's a way of connecting two wi-fi devices without a wireless access point. It's not even remotely related to the problem of streaming video from your mobile device to your TV. I'm not aware of any "standard" that replicates AirPlay, and competing devices seem to be using their own non-standardized protocols (e.g. Chromecast seems to require using Google's SDK).

> full screen web page on iOS Safari

What are you trying to say here? You're not actually describing a problem. And I'm not sure how this is supposed to be related at all to the current discussion anyway.

> charging your iPad (requires Apple charger)

No it doesn't, it just requires a 12W USB charger. A cursory internet search for "ipad charger" pulls up many third-party devices.

> developing a browser for iOS

I don't see how this is related to the discussion either.

> connecting a video-out cable to your iOS device

Assuming your implication is correct and there are no third-party solutions to doing this besides buying Apple's Lightning Digital AV Adapater, this still doesn't have anything to do with "lock-in", because you can just buy that adapter and now you have industry-standard video out.

> So many times on my iPad I've wanted to retrieve a file such as an animation I made with an app, and the hassle to bring it across to my desktop PC..

This is not a lock-in problem either. I assume you're saying that this particular app requires using iTunes to get the file (though if so that's really surprising, it's been literally years since I've seen an app that actually requires using iTunes file browsing). If there's no easy way to do that, that's a problem with the app. Most apps that let you create content also have a variety of mechanisms for getting the content off of the device. iTunes file browsing dates back from a time when almost everybody actually regularly synced their iOS devices with their computer, and so it wasn't a problem to require using iTunes to transfer files back and forth. Now that syncing with iTunes isn't something everybody is expected to do anymore, there's no reason for apps to be stuck in the past and require using iTunes file syncing to transfer files. So really, your complaint should be with the app's choice of file syncing mechanisms, and not this weird insinuation that the existence of the completely optional feature that is iTunes file syncing is some form of lock-in.