@marcoarment “Fandom” is exactly the right word, but I think it doesn’t truly fit the case of corporations. We are fans of sports teams for lots of reasons, similar to being a fan of a corporation or product. The key difference is that a sports team seeks to win for the happiness and honor of their fans and hometown. Fans are incidental to a corporation. They seek to win for their investors, sometimes/often at the expense of their fans. It’s not hard to make a list of how teams and corps are so different that calling oneself a fan of a corporation is really a delusion of sorts.

@marcoarment @nazokiyoubinbou Also the invention of the iPhone & the common infrastructure that allows me to take a photo in Tokyo that immediately appears on all my family’s devices is a powerful incentive to stay within the Apple system. Cost isn’t a factor in this decision at all, though it can be for other people as I well understand.

@marcoarment Like always this starts and ends with the people you hire. It maybe took a while longer but Apple is hiring the same people like everybody else does. And those people learn that if you have a channel to reach your customers you use it. I also think this is true for their UX design people. They are also not hired because they nerd out about MacPaint and HyperCard, they are hired because they have a portfolio that can win design awards. If what they design is a good foundation for millions of apps is not something you consider when you hire somebody.

@marcoarment If people our age haven’t learned not to treat institutions as though they’re people, we are in trouble. Institutions do not retain knowledge or wisdom as their former members leave. Brands are just labels, and Theseus style, the workings and soul don’t stay even if the name does.