[bgruber]

the difference is that apple doesn't merely do what you're describing. in the past, they have actively lambasted others for marketing bigger numbers.

[mikeash]

Because no other company ever criticizes their competitors' marketing?

This discussion is frankly insane. This stuff is called "marketing". Virtually every company does it. Companies that don't do it are called "failures".

[pekk]

More than most brands, Apple uses 'meta' advertising, calls out competitors for being corporate and mainstream and focused on machines over humans ("1984", etc.) It helps them mint money selling nice-looking consumer electronics, and at the same time it makes them justly more susceptible to this kind of criticism. It's all part of the same package. I think they can weather a little criticism for the hypocrisy in their marketing, let them take their lumps as they take their money.

[mikeash]

Does it really do this stuff any more than other brands? Seems to me that it just gets more attention for it sometimes.