Apple at 50: Why I root for a company's success

The reason why I've rooted for Apple all these years is the shared values.

Sure, they make great products and they are immensely successful at it, but its their ability to go against the grain, to stand up for what they think is right when everyone else is doing something else, is something I aspire in my own life and work.  Their success feels like an affirmation of my values more than any thing else.

Be it their stance on data privacy, or their recent outlook on AI with their focus on building, and promoting tools that empower human expression rather than replace it, or their focus on Accessibility; more often than not I find myself agreeing with them in principle rather than looking at them as yet another soulless capitalistic enterprise where immediate profits reign supreme.

And this is consistent across every aspect of the company. What's amazed me over the years is how egalitarian they are.

I obviously owe a lot of my career success to Apple, and Apple's products, one thing that's always struck me is how there's literally no difference in how my apps as an indie developer and those of industry stalwarts have been treated.

Apple's prestigious annual design awards end up awarding many indie developers each year too.

As an app maker, being put on the same pedestal as industry giants from day 1 is immensely empowering (and why would it be any other way!?).

Through their actions, Apple makes it clear that they see no difference between indie developers and larger enterprises. Unlike other places where the systems and incentives in place naturally award those with bigger pockets.

Over the years, I've enjoyed using Apple products, agreed and disagreed with their design decisions, held strong opinions on where I'd change things, but ultimately it's shared values that makes me come back to rooting for their successs.