6 technology brands scored across five dimensions of taste. From the benchmark to the polarising. Tech has the tools to execute taste but not always the judgement to deploy it.
Still the benchmark for consumer tech taste. Restraint has slipped but craft never wavers. The M-series chips are taste in silicon.
Made productivity software feel like a creative tool. The blank canvas metaphor is the taste. Tool-as-canvas.
Wrapped is the most culturally embedded product feature of the decade. The podcast pivot hurt restraint. The core product has taste.
Across these 6 brands, Restraint is the most variable dimension, ranging from 10 (Tesla) to 17 (Apple). Tech companies are excellent at craft -- they have the engineering talent and the resources. But knowing what not to build, what not to ship, and what not to say is where taste separates the exceptional from the competent. Apple's 23-point lead over Google maps directly to this gap. The tools are the same. The judgement is not.