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No. For the car example, lock-in means you aren't able to use off-brand accessories, or service your car in an unlicensed shop. However, cars are mostly self-contained, so this mostly only comes up with aftermarket stereo systems and membership programs.

And yes, mild lock-in is very common. That doesn't make it a good practice from the consumer's point of view.



Considering how hard it is to get people to agree on interoperability standards even if they want to agree, I think lock-in is simply inevitable.




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