I understand your desire to have choices, but comparing DRK to Apple is fighting talk.

Default on in the QT client benefits all DS users and doesn't do anyone any harm, if you want to use Darkcoin transparently (say you're just interested in IX and don't care about privacy) you could click a button and do so. Seems reasonable to me?
What seems odd to me is having it OFF by default. It suggests a lack of confidence in the process. Like buying a V10 Ferrari and having to go out of your way to fire up the other 9 cylinders.
Crypto will never be as big as Apple whilst the majority of Linux developers call the general public "stupid" for not being able to run a computer via a command line. It requires a complete paradigm shift that's going to take a while to set in.
Apple are there already, which is why they are the worlds most valuable company

Apple's paper marketcap is bigger than every traded company in Russia combined - ie, it's hugely, vastly, ridiculously, comically, hideously overinflated.