No, because this is simply not true. I am not sure what "participate in modern life" means for you, but I have no personal Apple devices, so no Apple account for me; and I use Fastmail as my primary email.
Granted, there are some groups which use Google Docs or such to coordinate, so I still have to have a Google account, but this is somewhat optional. And Google Play is pretty nice if you have a cellphone -- but on the older Android tablets I keep them account-less and use F-droid/random APKs from the web instead.
A much concerning thing IMHO is a Facebook requirement -- I am missing a number of events when I tell people I don't use Facebook. Hopefully it will change one day, but I am not holding my breath.
(And re the original article, you only need Google/Apple account if you want to use cloud sync. I am not quite sure how the system will work, but I suspect that with Android, you might either have alternative clouds (like Samsung's cloud), or may be able to use your own service, or sync via wired cable to PC)
Granted, there are some groups which use Google Docs or such to coordinate, so I still have to have a Google account, but this is somewhat optional. And Google Play is pretty nice if you have a cellphone -- but on the older Android tablets I keep them account-less and use F-droid/random APKs from the web instead.
A much concerning thing IMHO is a Facebook requirement -- I am missing a number of events when I tell people I don't use Facebook. Hopefully it will change one day, but I am not holding my breath.
(And re the original article, you only need Google/Apple account if you want to use cloud sync. I am not quite sure how the system will work, but I suspect that with Android, you might either have alternative clouds (like Samsung's cloud), or may be able to use your own service, or sync via wired cable to PC)