It’s a balancing act, one that’s important to get right. To make this whole enterprise work, Framework will have to attract at least a small portion of the consumer mainstream and frankly I think a T430 in 2021 would scare them off.
The compromises, like the simple shell and internal battery as an example, keep it from seeming too alien to someone who is used to buying Macbooks, Surface and XPSs right now. And even so, it’s a massive leap in options in areas ranging from reparability to I/O flexibility.
If this product succeeds, then perhaps in the future there will be opportunities to push the envelope more.