Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons
license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary
on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the
entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/


                         50 Years of Thinking Different

   Adam Engst

   In a public letter about Apple's upcoming 50th anniversary, [1]Tim Cook
   keys off the famous Think Different ad campaign:

     April 1st marks 50 years of Apple. From the first Apple computer to
     the Mac, from iPod to iPhone, iPad to AppleWatch and AirPods, as
     well as the services we use every day ' the AppStore, AppleMusic,
     ApplePay, iCloud, and AppleTV ' we've spent five decades rethinking
     what's possible and putting powerful tools into people's hands.
     Through every breakthrough, one idea has guided us ' that the world
     is moved forward by people who think different.

   Fine words, and Apple also issued a separate [2]press release that
   promises further celebrations and looks to the future:

     As Apple celebrates this milestone, the company remains focused on
     the future and on continuing to think different in the years ahead.
     Apple will continue to innovate in groundbreaking silicon,
     life-enriching products, transformative software, and services that
     improve people's lives, while deepening its commitments to
     environmental responsibility, education, and community impact around
     the world.

   As much as I largely agree with Apple's stated values and beliefs about
   changing the world through innovative technology'I've dedicated my
   entire professional life to using and explaining Apple tools'the
   anniversary rhetoric rings somewhat hollow when measured against the
   company's actions in recent years.

   This is the same company that is [3]ignoring the historical Human
   Interface Guidelines in macOS 26 Tahoe, [4]aggressively defending its
   App Store revenues at the expense of developers and consumers, and
   [5]removing ICEBlock from the App Store while [6]leaving Grok in place.
   There's a reason Apple's scores dropped in so many categories in the
   [7]Six Colors 2025 Report Card.

   The Think Different campaign honored 'the round pegs in the square
   holes.' Today's Apple forces those round pegs through the square holes
   to make [8]squircle icons.

   I raise this tension because Apple has long set standards for the tech
   industry in many ways. Today, at the height of the company's power and
   influence, some reflection about where it's falling short'and course
   correction'could help bring those report card scores back up and offer
   a stronger role model to other firms.

   [9]Read original article

References

   1. https://www.apple.com/50-years-of-thinking-different/
   2. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/03/apple-to-celebrate-50-years-of-thinking-different/?1773320351
   3. https://tonsky.me/blog/tahoe-icons/
   4. https://www.theverge.com/news/659246/apple-epic-app-store-judge-ruling-control
   5. https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iceblock-app-store-removed-2025-10
   6. https://www.theverge.com/policy/859902/apple-google-run-by-cowards
   7. https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/02/2025reportcard/
   8. https://onefoottsunami.com/2025/11/05/tahoes-terrible-icons/
   9. https://www.apple.com/50-years-of-thinking-different/

.