[lapcat]

It's difficult to agree or disagree with this comment, because it's so vague. For example, "on the whole they don't do well at delivering software, and have a reputation as terrible places to do software work." Are we supposed to just accept this claim without question? I have no idea which companies you're talking about. And I'm not sure that Apple and Amazon for example don't have reputations as terrible places to do software work, but again I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by that.

Moreover, "good software" is also highly subjective and subject to dispute. I feel that the software coming from Apple and Google has gone downhill in the past decade. Are we to explain that by hiring?

The financial numbers are indisputable for Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Facebook. (Not sure the term FAANG even makes sense anymore.) But something like "reputation" is another matter entirely.