I was also disappointed by this ad when I first saw it, but I wasn’t shocked. In fact I think it’s symbolic of the direction Apple took since the passing of Steve Jobs. Apple, even during its “beleaguered” mid-1990s era, was a champion of personal computing and was embraced by creative professionals. Heck, the original Macintosh and the LaserWriter helped kickstart the desktop publishing industry, especially once PageMaker and Photoshop were released. But Apple products were complementary to other creative tools, such as musical instruments and cameras. Remember the digital hub strategy Steve Jobs announced in the early 2000s?

Unfortunately, this ad, with its destruction of artists’ tools, is completely tone-deaf to the sentiments of the creative professionals who loyally used Apple products. However, I argue that Apple has largely stopped relying on this market once revenues from the iPhone and services started overtaking Mac revenues. Apple used to be a champion of personal computing, not only emphasizing ease-of-use over its competitors, but also investing in technologies that made it easier for regular users to get more out of their computers (e.g., HyperCard, AppleScript). Today Apple is a vendor of luxury-brand electronics. It’s coasting on two things: (1) the goodwill the brand built from the 1980s through the 2000s as “the computer for the rest of us,” and (2) offering a platform that is alternative to Microsoft Windows and all of its shenanigans, as well as some PC clone vendors who load their PCs with preinstalled crapware. Even with point #2, I find pro and education versions of Windows less annoying than their home counterparts, and vendors like Framework and even Microsoft don’t load their PCs with crapware.

I hold the opinion that Apple lost its soul in the 2010s when Apple became the iPhone company instead of the Mac company. This commercial would’ve never been produced under the watch of Steve Jobs (“Think different”) or even John Sculley (look up “The Power to Be Your Best.”).