[atonse]

Doesn’t help that they’ve gotten so big. They’ve become “the man” the establishment that has a direct line to everyone’s brains.

And have in so many cases abused their power.

All that not counting the stagnation and enshittification.

I also used to get together with friends to watch Apple Keynotes. They were so much fun.

But now they’re just extremely sanitized pre produced videos (basically ads) that lack any sort of soul.

Yes yes I know they were always mainly ads. But there was something to be said for people presenting on stage.

[dangus]

Back in the day, these companies stayed in their lane, so to speak.

When you bought a computer, that’s all it was. It had much more of a toy or appliance like appeal rather than this deeply integrated life augmenter. The idea that a company like Apple or even a bigger (at the time) company like Microsoft would own a movie/TV studio and broadcast major league sports was an insane idea.

I will say regarding keynotes, it wasn’t limited to the genuine nature of the companies. The 90s and 2000s were just on different levels of the pace of technology development. I am sure that even Microsoft had an exciting keynote or two and they were the evil empire in those days.