Why does Apple seem to be the most scrutinized company? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Mills Baker, Product Design Manager, on Quora:
Why does Apple seem to be the most scrutinized company?
I think there are a few reasons:
- First: Apple-as-a-subject gets clicks, sells papers, moves issues, etc. This has been so for a long, long time, and many explanations can be imagined [1], but the important thing here is: Apple has historically been a popular subject for the media → Apple gets written more about by the media → Apple becomes an even more popular subject for the media → and this repeats for 30+ years.
- Second: Apple has many obviously interesting attributes at different times in its history:
- Steve Jobs; the founding stories; the early days; Apple vs. IBM; Apple vs. Microsoft; Mac vs. Windows.
- The Newton in cartoons like Doonesbury; celebrities and iPods; iPod ubiquity; Apple’s resurgence: back from the brink of death (and before: Apple as takeover target; Apple as sad story of failed genius).
- Apple as the most valuable company in the world; Apple as inventor of the iPhone, as popularizer of new and insanely high-impact paradigm in computing.
- Apple as a mysterious/secretive high-tech futurism company: perhaps they’ll make cars, AR glasses, television sets, etc.
- Third: Apple products have more than 1B users, many of whom know who Apple is or what they are (in contrast to e.g. Android users).
So a ton of rich story lines and big personalities and famous moments, twists, turns; near ubiquity globally, and perceived significant impact; and, after all, the most valuable company in the world, all make Apple a great subject for scrutiny. When the media covers them, they’re rewarded for doing so. Readers will click on, and react to, a wide range of Apple stories. If a single labor violation occurs at a company that supplies Apple, it’s news; if an entire supply chain for another company —say, Dell— were found to violate labor laws, no one would care.
Last: I think many of us scrutinize Apple for another reason. Apple often seems to indicate where the future is headed, at least in mass market terms. If we learned that Apple were betting the farm on AR, how many of us —how many individuals, investors, and companies— would change their behavior? Many. So Apple, in addition to being compelling and relevant and well-known, is often seen as a bit oracular: both in that they do seem to reliably suss out what’s coming and that what they do can wind up creating industries and massive opportunities for others.
Those would be my guesses, anyway!
- For example: Apple has historically had antagonists who generate readership, engagement, commentary. Articles about the Mac were met with howls from PC-fans; articles about iOS meet the same from Android fans. Constituencies of nerds care a lot about Apple, even if negatively, and generate lots of heat.
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