I don't think people would complain if it came with the product, just like no one complained about the few tracks that came with Windows 7 (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Tuna).
The problem with the U2 tracks is that 1) they were delivered automatically by surprise and 2) you couldn't refuse them. They were just dropped onto your phone without warning. This is especially egregious when you consider the fact that Apple has been charging an arm and a leg for storage space on phones, so people were left without storage as this album auto downloaded. (see https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2794347/oops...)
Preloads are fine, especially when done tastefully or unobtrusively. Apple didn't do that with the U2 tracks.
It was also a reminder that your phone is backdoored by Apple and they can do whatever they please with it and your files. But they never would. But they can.
There is a pretty big difference between something that autodownloads a list retrieved from a database-backed web service and remote code execution (a “backdoor”).
I've never had an iPod (even as a kid, I had to be "that guy" being different, with my Creative ZEN mp3 player), but my understanding is that the U2 album was something that was pushed out to everyone, not pre-loaded, correct? Maybe I'm misremembering.
FWIW, I'm also a Kobo user, and I've never heard of anyone complaining about the 100 public domain eBooks that were preloaded onto early Kobo devices.[1]
