iOS is a product FROM Apple. They have the right to do whatever they want with it - same for Amazon and the Kindle.
Microsoft didn't "have a monopoly on Internet Explorer" - they had (still have?) a monopoly on COMPUTER OSes, which they used to force-feed everyone with a BROWSER. It would be a monopoly if Apple's iOS ran in 90% of the phones in the world, but that's not the case today (nor in the foreseeable future)...
I don't see much difference between how "Microsoft force feed everyone with a browser" and the way apple does, only that Apple is worse.
iOS is not a product(you can't buy it separately, can you?), it's a platform that many developers make a living on. When I am saying iOS market, I am actually saying iOS software market.
Given Windows ran in 999% of the computers at the time, whatever they distributed was "force feeding". That included bundling the browser and selling Office for highly discounted prices (basically killing the competition). I'm somewhat of a libertarian on that front - I don't think governments should "interfere" for the most part - but I do see the reasoning behind what they decided here
As for iOS, you don't HAVE to buy an iphone today. NO ONE is forcing you to develop on it. In fact, less than 1/3 of the smartphone owners do have one - And THAT's the distinction: choice. Argueing "it's the same thing" puts you on the same boat as that chinese clone manufacturer that sued Apple because they "didn't license their OS for anyone": it's THEIR product, they do whatever they want with it.
As for iOS being a product on itself, you're right - it's just the software that powers Apple's hardware, not an "isolated" product. Same as Kindle OS, WebOS or Bada, not the same as Android and Symbian, which are sold/licensed to third parties...
But same as your reasoning, you didn't have to buy windows either, there were still 1% (maybe more) computers that runs other OSes. By the way, I agreed with you, government should not interfere as long as MS didn't shut competitors out of the platform.
Now, I bought iPhone/iPad because they are the best hardware with some of the best software. I don't REALLY have other choices if I want the same build quality. I don't have a problem that Apple bundles apps for free, I do have a problem when Apple stops me from running software that I really want to have running on my device. Just because he can control everything running on the hardware doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants. Again, whatever this thing should be called, it is far far worse than MS's "monopoly".
Microsoft didn't "have a monopoly on Internet Explorer" - they had (still have?) a monopoly on COMPUTER OSes, which they used to force-feed everyone with a BROWSER. It would be a monopoly if Apple's iOS ran in 90% of the phones in the world, but that's not the case today (nor in the foreseeable future)...