In what way has Apple forgot that their customers are reasoning individuals? I don't see how you come to that conclusion in this case, but you seem to argue that this has happened before?
Well, by their behavior with respect to pornographic or erotic apps, their response to jailbreaking, their decision to completely lock the device against unauthorized apps, and their censoring of books and comics over non-sexualized nudity. From the very beginning, Apple has demonstrated a near complete dismissal of their customers' ability to make decisions for themselves, as can be seen from their decision to make a walled-garden sort of marketplace where customers can play around without getting hurt.
With respect, I think a lot of reasoning individuals who are Apple customers like or are at least indifferent to the walled garden approach. Just as those saying that they get better reception from the iPhone 4, or saying nothing at all like or are at least indifferent to the antenna design.
It seems that many critics of the walled garden approach as well as the antenna design have a hard time realizing (or conveniently forget) that those not complaining loudly aren't necessarily mindless drones who buys anything with an Apple logo on it.
So in my mind, I'd say that there are huge amounts of intelligent, reasoning individuals who are using the iPhone 4 at the moment who like the phone as it is. So while I agree that they should have done more when it comes to telling the world they were on the case, even though I doubt it would have helped much, I think your image of how badly Apple treat their users is vastly exaggerated.