We all wish that and they are not just holding back things "a little" but by massive amounts. But alas companies are usually not in it to advance technology, but to make shedloads of money. Lock-in, incompatible ports, moats are all by design to reduce customer attrition from inferior products by some margin.
Peter Thiel's "From 0 to 1" opened my mind to this. SV VCs also don't care about your tech too much - but they are insanely focused on what your "moat" is. I.e. lock-in, patents, network effects etc.
While lock-in might be a motivating factor and benefit, it's also just that it's really hard to make something that works with a competitor's something-else without your competitor sharing all their details. It's much easier for a company to guarantee the experience of the end-user when they only have to worry about things they have control over. You can't just make that kind of simplification as if it's proven fact.
Peter Thiel's "From 0 to 1" opened my mind to this. SV VCs also don't care about your tech too much - but they are insanely focused on what your "moat" is. I.e. lock-in, patents, network effects etc.