It sounds like you are saying that you want Apple to be forced to do what Google has already done. Doesn't this mean the the precedent has already been set but Google?
That leads back to the original question: Why is it so important for Apple to be forced to operate like Android when people are free to just buy an Android phone if they want that kind of environment?
Yes, that is what I am saying. Google has set a precedent but not a legal one. So leading back to the question there seems to me to possibly be a case that Apple has a monopoly of sorts and that it is not allowing proper competition because of the power they hold to arbitrarily delete a developer's app without recourse. I don't know if the argument would hold up in court of course and it's certainly not a straightforward argument for reasons you have pointed out, namely people can switch to Android, but I think it should be tried. As for what is wrong with Android - nothing really. I don't use it as I prefer the iDevices so far but if Android does at some point become dominant then what is to say they won't try and close off the market in a similar fashion?
I do now understand what you mean as far as a legal precedent is concerned, but if a ruling were based on the idea that Apple had a monopoly then by definition it wouldn't apply to anyone else.
[edit: removed point about Apple not having a monopoly]
