> Either Apple used to do a better job, or else developers did.
A bit of both I would think. When the Mac was a more niche platform the developer community tended to be more bought into philosophy and design sensibilities around it. And as the Mac has gotten more widespread in popularity, Apple has gotten less good at planning around power-user use cases or communicating how to handle them elegantly.
> When the Mac was a more niche platform the developer community tended to be more bought into philosophy and design sensibilities around it.
I still kind of hold Apple accountable for that, though. As the platform grows, Apple has more resources they can dedicate to clarifying UI patterns, or systemic coaching via API design. But they've gone in the opposite direction.
A bit of both I would think. When the Mac was a more niche platform the developer community tended to be more bought into philosophy and design sensibilities around it. And as the Mac has gotten more widespread in popularity, Apple has gotten less good at planning around power-user use cases or communicating how to handle them elegantly.