The Gruber Conundrum
Google fans seem to eat this kumbaya stuff up, to really believe it. But Google is the company that built Android after the iPhone, Google Plus after Facebook
I don’t think anyone understands Apple and has finger on the pulse of how it moves like John Gruber at Daring Fireball.
But what’s equally interesting is just how disconnected he can be at times about other tech brands – perhaps Google especially. He’s so assimilated and in tune with Apple’s way of thinking that he almost can’t conceive how another company may have a different philosophy.
It’s an interesting perspective in journalism today, where so many are generalists afraid to commit too heartily to an opinion too extreme in one direction.
Can you sustain the kind of virtuoso understanding that someone like Gruber has on Apple and still be able to relate to other companies in the same way? I think a range of writers come close but maintaining the mental dissonance of those different perspectives perhaps stops them reaching the same consistent depth and insight as these rare specialists.