With gadgets similar to iPhones and iPads I think we'd be better off designating general purpose computers for professional use, and not having to worry about hypothetical "grandpas" installing malware while checking the weather, especially on Linux.
Yeah I actually agree with you. If the goal was to get more people to use desktop linux / PCs making them more like and iPhone would be good. But I don’t think that’s a good goal to have.
I've used an app store (or rather an 'apt store') since 1999, it's the reason I moved from redhat to debian in the first place.
I'm not sure that "desktop computers" as we know it were around in the 60s (I certainly wasn't), but in the early 90s software tended to come from floppy disks, before that it was a C90 cassette on a spectrum.
Microsoft Store and Valve Steam do not contain (shock!) browsers, office, tools, etc. That I believe is a distinction between distribution and store - "store" agenda is not aligned with users.
Why? Desktop computers worked just fine for 35 or so years before app stores showed up. It's completely unnecessary.