Apple's ux IS tightly controlled. And that is one reason why ALL programs on Apple's platforms are easy to work with. I'm sick to death of all the different user interfaces in Windows. Even MS is not consistent about how some of their programs present options!

Is Apple's interface the best? Probably not.
Is it consistent no matter who's software you are using? Yes!

As for Google owning my data versus my having multiple copies? I'll take multiple copies! I'm on the move a lot and often do not have internet access. So I'd much rather deal with with synchronization of data then all access via the internet. And I suspect that, just like iTunes, Apple will supply software for Windows to allow that synchronization. I just hope they see some light and add support for Linux!