There is usually a way to hide it and if you don't use them you should not get any (or at least not many) notifications. For more free android phones you can also absolutely remove them or load a distro that does not include them at all.

I'm very confident that I could recreate a similar enough experience on iOS or "normal" android at a similar price-point.

people on this forum thinking the problem with Samsung installing Facebook in a way you can't disable is only a problem because of seeing the icon or receiving notifications... if the tech elite is that alienated and lame i think it's all over

Yeah this is the thing that confuses me about this, it's priced the same as some mid-range smartphones. It seems like you're paying a significant premium to have the control over which apps you can use strictly enforced. If that's the only way you can do it and people are willing to pay, then I guess fair enough?