Unlocking the bootloader on your phone will make the phone fail the security check required for online banking and other apps. Therefore, it is not something that the general public can really take advantage of. It is great that Sony provides unlocking, but it will remain the purview of a small community of nerds like us, and it does nothing to improve accessibility to general computing for the masses.
You can still install 3rd party apps on Android without unlocking the phone - this should be enough for general public open computing, this gives you access to KODI, ZeroNet, I2P etc.., all the stuff that the article talks about.
