I know this is kind of a throw away poke at Steve Jobs, but its very believable as well.
In fact, the selfishness that Jobs displayed repeatedly in his life helps you understand how this whole thing happened. I can totally see Steve Jobs says "damn it, I'm trying to make cool stuff and these 2-3 other companies get stealing my guys. Stop doing that so we can go back to making awesome stuff!"
But that's the problem and my broader point. These companies acted to reduce churn of top talent and possibly secondarily to save some cash. I can see this seeming like a good idea. But the broader ramifications of their actions are insane.
They could have equally reduced churn by offering better compensation packages... and letting the market forces do what market forces do. Particularly from such a libertarian, "the market solves everything" set of people. (not a position on libertarianism itself, just pointing out the irony in big name capitalists acting against the market).
In fact, the selfishness that Jobs displayed repeatedly in his life helps you understand how this whole thing happened. I can totally see Steve Jobs says "damn it, I'm trying to make cool stuff and these 2-3 other companies get stealing my guys. Stop doing that so we can go back to making awesome stuff!"
But that's the problem and my broader point. These companies acted to reduce churn of top talent and possibly secondarily to save some cash. I can see this seeming like a good idea. But the broader ramifications of their actions are insane.