Here's the problem with Jobs:

When Apple (and NeXT) was an underdog, his evangelism ("Insanely Great", etc.) was the mark of a spunky company trying to produce something different. Disparaging the competition is just grandstanding.

Now that Apple is a market leader (in many markets, to boot) his evangelism sounds like whiny bitching. It sounds like he's far more concerned with disparaging others' products than in promoting his own, and it comes across as tone-deaf whining. I feel like he might take his ball and go home at any minute now.

I guess that this is the best example: when you're an underdog, saying that your competitors' products are crap is promoting your quality; when you become a market leader, the same claim is just mudslinging. Is this a problem of perception? Of course; nothing has really changed about Jobs' attitude. But we're talking about perception.

That said, I do think that Apple continues to make higher quality products than their competitors (though their customer service is faltering, IMO), and I'm glad that quality can still sometimes win out over economics.

But why can't Jobs accept competition? He used to produce something that he believed filled a niche. Why are other companies not allowed (by him) to do the same? No company can produce a product that fills every possible role. I think Apple has made a good choice in producing fewer higher-quality products, at the expense of limiting choice somewhat. (For example, compare the PC configurator at Apple versus the ones at Lenovo and Dell.) But that doesn't mean that the products they make are going to suit everyone. Other manufacturers recognize this and try to distinguish their products. Jobs comes across as telling customers that other products are crap because if you don't like what Apple has to offer, then you're doing it wrong; Steve knows best.