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Comment by fpgeek | Hacker News Reader

I think what's unusual about Apple here is:

1. How vehement their condemnation is (especially since, in retrospect, they're already busy working on exactly what they're condeming),

2. How quickly and comprehensively they flip the story when their version is ready and

3. How predictable this pattern is for them. Given past experience, I almost expect Apple to be working on actual toaster-fridges in a skunkworks project somewhere (in addition to the metaphorical ones I'm positive they're working on).

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What's the alternative, though? They don't want other companies to know what they're working on, so they say "no" to something until they have it ready, and then they say "yes".

There's a difference between saying no ("we think larger buttons on our bigger screen are easier to use" or whatever) and mockery ("you'll need to file down your fingers"). Apple could do one without the other.

I understand why Apple uses mockery (better publicity, more memorable, firing up fans, etc.) but, at a minimum, Apple (and their defenders) should expect well-earned mockery in return, especially given their pattern of flips.

I can't think of any instances of them vehemently condemning anything as a company. Some executive making snarky comments at a press event doesn't count, even if it spawns a gazillion outraged Reddit comments, and even if those snarky comments come from a co-founder of the company who was not known for his tact. In any event, just because an executive makes an abrasive comment about something doesn't mean that the other tens of thousands of people who work for that company shares those views.

Heck, I can't remember the last time they had an ad or even a press release attacking a competitor. I guess the "I'm a Mac" ads were a type of attack ad, but even those were intentionally not mean-spirited, and that was years ago anyway. Their competitors are frequently much more confrontational in their ads.

You seem to be basing your view of them on a particular narrative which relies on assumptions about their motivation and character, i.e. "OK, maybe everybody does that stuff, but they do it for reasons that make them bad people!"

Don't forget "Redmond, Start Your Copiers" hung from banners draped all over WWDC one year. That was pretty juvenile.

Why don't you say it counts?

Ive or Jobs rubbishing other design choices is precisely what we are talking about here.

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