Gruber's tone and attitude are definitely heavily informed by the experience of the "beleaguered" era. (For those who don't know, this adjective was seemingly tossed in front of the company name almost any time Apple was discussed in the press, enough for the word itself to become a joke about perceived anti-Apple bias in the media.)
A lot of Apple fans are still playing a game where they're rooting for the underdog against a world that doesn't appreciate good UIs, well-built computers, or value over cheapness. The situation used to be clear: Microsoft, and to a lesser extent Intel, were the forces of darkness, building a huge market share by saddling the world with cheap crap, while Apple struggles on making something better. Now that narrative doesn't work anymore, but you can see people like Gruber search for new oppressive enemies to try to carry on with the same story. RIM, Google, Samsung, and even Microsoft's phone and tablet division get slotted into the same old story.
Personally, I think you're right that things might revert to how they were during the Dark Times, but that Apple is by far the most likely candidate for the oppressive and massively successful company, and cheerleaders like these guys are helping that process along.
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Gruber's tone and attitude are definitely heavily informed by the experience of the "beleaguered" era. (For those who don't know, this adjective was seemingly tossed in front of the company name almost any time Apple was discussed in the press, enough for the word itself to become a joke about perceived anti-Apple bias in the media.)
A lot of Apple fans are still playing a game where they're rooting for the underdog against a world that doesn't appreciate good UIs, well-built computers, or value over cheapness. The situation used to be clear: Microsoft, and to a lesser extent Intel, were the forces of darkness, building a huge market share by saddling the world with cheap crap, while Apple struggles on making something better. Now that narrative doesn't work anymore, but you can see people like Gruber search for new oppressive enemies to try to carry on with the same story. RIM, Google, Samsung, and even Microsoft's phone and tablet division get slotted into the same old story.
Personally, I think you're right that things might revert to how they were during the Dark Times, but that Apple is by far the most likely candidate for the oppressive and massively successful company, and cheerleaders like these guys are helping that process along.