News articles like this, this and this have bothered me for a while. They follow the pattern of referring to controversial companies as distinct personas. With predictable behavior and consistent views, like an individual.
The reality is - all companies are groups of humans, each with their own unique personalities. The circle of high-ranked employees who make publicly-visible decisions is large. Yet, each decision-maker is responsible for small fraction of company’s function.
Judging the entire company and all of its employees over actions of few decision-makers is irrational. We shouldn’t blame Joe, the At&T field tech over AT&T’s shitty service.
Additionally, in big companies (like Amazon, Google, etc), the different departments are siloed. Someone working on Android at Google has as much influence over or visibility into Google Maps as anyone else.
I believe this happens because it’s a simpler mental model for humans. Blanket judgement is easier.
Note: I work for one of the big tech companies, so my opinion is biased.