I don't think that analogy works here, since the things we're worried about are binary states. Either you can run arbitrary software, or you can not, etc.

Perhaps a better analogy then is securing the noose around the neck of the prisoner, but not yet releasing the trapdoor.

...and the people who work on "progressing" this technology are helping to make the nooses better and also putting them on their own necks. (I've used that analogy before. I think it's a great one.)