Yes. They failed to realize in 1984, being small up-and-comers and all, that once you do gain power you will always end up like Big Brother in the end.
Doesn't matter if you're a communist leader, innovator, entrepreneur, artist, hippie, fascist, anarchist, liberal, freedom fighter... if you actually do get people to follow your lead, you will ALWAYS end up as a paranoid, self-serving control freak in an ivory tower with all your fancy ideals flying out the window, while pondering how to best squash your detractors and competitors and how to best brain wash the masses into obedience: Thought police, Kool-Aid or The Matrix?
That's like saying "The more people actually go to theaters and watch Gigli, the more they'll realize that it wasn't as bad as everyone said". Maybe it was the worst movie ever, maybe it wasn't, but it's too late to change public opinion once the snowball has started rolling. And the ones who did bother to watch it and found it not entirely horrible aren't going to admit it.
The bandwagon goes where it wants to go. Once it has decided, however irrationally, that Apple = Gestapo, Apple will have to work 200 times harder to prove that it isn't quite the Hitler's henchmen the rumors speak of. It's not like the bandwagon is going to stop and go "well you know, now that we have more information from both sides I'm starting to see this thing in a whole new light. Apple is cool again in my book!". To turn it around you need to build a 20 ft concrete wall or something.
I don't think you should ask the poster about that, I think you should ask Steve.
- Hey Steve, would you be willing to give up some of the Apple brand's value in terms of perceived coolness, in order to ensure that one person is punished for picking up a mislaid phone and selling it to a tech blog instead of returning it?
What do you think he would respond?
A) True, we have spent several decades and billions of dollars on honing our brand image. As post-hippie Californians we thrive on being perceived as cool and laid back, and considering the amount of grass we've smoked over the years and all the naughty little things we did, like steal the "iPhone" trademark from another company without flinching, maybe we shouldn't be ones to talk. But, what the hell, I'm willing to throw all that away to see these punks nailed.
B) Abort! Abort!
Move on and keep doing nice products...
