To the degree that you can describe a company in general as such, Apple is one of the most arrogant companies I've ever had to deal with, sometimes as a customer, more often as a developer and very much so when I was involved with a partner in one of their many supply chains.
I think this is true at the same time that it's also true that they currently create some of the highest quality, almost perfectly fully integrated computing products in the world.
I have a real love/hate relationship with this company. I'm deep in their ecosystem, I don't really want to have to leave it, but I still see the arrogance bleed through and it pisses me off every time I notice it.
What this article describes - a seemingly widely perceived arrogance and disdain towards developers - isn't purely developer focused in my view - though I think they get the brunt of it. I think this is symptomatic of a wider issue. A cultural thing which is as deeply embedded in Apple as is their high attention to detail, technical excellence and sense of design.
I wonder if it came from Jobs himself - who, a bit like Musk, was by many accounts a bit of an asshole to those around him, but was also an extremely talented visionary, with that rare ability to pull together talented multi-disciplinary teams to help synthesise beautifully designed and - often - thoughtful products. (The current trend is against also thinking about Musk like this but I do think he and Jobs have a lot in common).
The high quality output of the company is either in spite of or dependent upon the slightly morally compromised and contradictory means of producing that output. I'm not sure which.
I often feel like I'm in a bit of an abusive relationship with Apple. I can't quite put my finger on it. They make wonderful things, which I often really really love using, but then in another moment they seem to manage to gaslight me in some way - making me feel utterly stupid for continuing to give them my money. Sometimes I think their products are literally unmatched and I focus on the fact that their attention to quality and innovation pulls the whole industry forwards, other times I just think I'm in their predatory ecosystem simply because they're the best of a bad bunch.
I think the thing the most annoys me with Apple is the disparity between the "perfect" public image they try extremely hard to portray - more than any other tech company - and the very obvious contradictory behaviour that can often be revealed just by scratching the surface.
While I agree with your opinion, my own stance is that my needs supersede the tools. I have a few HomePods, but only because my music sources are my MBA and my iPhone. While I've wished that they have bluetooth and line in. And they will be replaced if I ever switch to something that does not support Airplay. I have the Apple TV, but that's because Infuse exists. I'm prepared to switch from anything that does not allow me to do what I want to do.
I think this is true at the same time that it's also true that they currently create some of the highest quality, almost perfectly fully integrated computing products in the world.
I have a real love/hate relationship with this company. I'm deep in their ecosystem, I don't really want to have to leave it, but I still see the arrogance bleed through and it pisses me off every time I notice it.
What this article describes - a seemingly widely perceived arrogance and disdain towards developers - isn't purely developer focused in my view - though I think they get the brunt of it. I think this is symptomatic of a wider issue. A cultural thing which is as deeply embedded in Apple as is their high attention to detail, technical excellence and sense of design.
I wonder if it came from Jobs himself - who, a bit like Musk, was by many accounts a bit of an asshole to those around him, but was also an extremely talented visionary, with that rare ability to pull together talented multi-disciplinary teams to help synthesise beautifully designed and - often - thoughtful products. (The current trend is against also thinking about Musk like this but I do think he and Jobs have a lot in common).
The high quality output of the company is either in spite of or dependent upon the slightly morally compromised and contradictory means of producing that output. I'm not sure which.
I often feel like I'm in a bit of an abusive relationship with Apple. I can't quite put my finger on it. They make wonderful things, which I often really really love using, but then in another moment they seem to manage to gaslight me in some way - making me feel utterly stupid for continuing to give them my money. Sometimes I think their products are literally unmatched and I focus on the fact that their attention to quality and innovation pulls the whole industry forwards, other times I just think I'm in their predatory ecosystem simply because they're the best of a bad bunch.
I think the thing the most annoys me with Apple is the disparity between the "perfect" public image they try extremely hard to portray - more than any other tech company - and the very obvious contradictory behaviour that can often be revealed just by scratching the surface.
//rant