@Polychrome In my opinion, the contrast between oppressive apple-clean services and ugly-but-free devices works best.

Free tech tends to be ugly because it was designed to be repaired. Tubes can be changed, connections are big so they can be swapped and examined; repairable stuff is big because it has screws, fuses, levers, switches and sockets.

Slick stuff is slick because it was designed to be small and look nice on the outside at the expense of space, repairability and reusability. Instead of screwing you need to break, or use specialized tools. Components can't be swapped, only full systems to be replaced with newer ones.

A favorite #cyberpunk setting of mine is the old man's repair shop, where he has tools and cardboard boxes of rigid spare components, filled with the faint odor of soldering tin and metal.

By contrast, the slick white clean Apple store is dystopian; monoculture of centrally controlled devices and consumer electronics, reminding us of works like THX-1138, Portal or Minority Report.

Ugly tech is friendly; it can be hacked, maintained and fixed. Shiny tech is evil; opaque, oppressive and sealed under a pretty hood.