The difference is that Google is trying to make the world a better place.
They didn't have to pull out of China to make a stance against censorship. They didn't have to launch projects like Google Books whose sole aim is easy, worldwide access to as much information as possible. Their motto of "Don't be evil", is absolutely not, as Steve Jobs put it "bullshit". I know people who work at Google including a cousin of mine and they live and breathe this motto. There's no pressure to make money, hell, Google employees can spend 20% of their time on their own projects, a stance that has led to great developments across the board.
I like Google because they are inclusive of the needs, wants, thoughts, dreams of every one of their users. Apple are exclusive - either you do it exactly their way, or fuck you.
Their operation is almost cult-like, with their army of fanboys high-fiving each other over the latest overpriced, clinically dull, underpowered products that they actually believe is some sort of social neccesity rather than just electronics. They remind me of Scientologists. The level of radicalism amongst their supporters is insane. That kid that walked out of an Apple store with his iPad proclaiming that he "felt like Jesus" or some such rubbish. It's disturbing and you don't get that with any other consumer electronics company. Not Sony, not Microsoft, not Google.....who all make better products that enjoy widespread popularity without having to make their supporters feel like they are part of a cult.
Funny, because my female bandmate worked in an Apple store for 4 months. She was just eyecandy, and everyone else that worked there were the most fervent of Apple supporters. She said they were the nerdiest, dullest, least interesting people she had ever met and they all continually talked nothing but Apple in a cult-like manner as if they had access to some sort of secret knowledge that nobody else had.
From an outside perspective, that is the most disturbing part of Apple. And they are most definitely the ones encouraging and perpetuating this behaviour. It doesn't take a language scientist to analyse the way their product launch speeches are written to realize that they deliberately use brainwashing and audience-empowerment techniques to effectively hypnotise their audience into endlessly repeating their nonsensical claims and mantras. Much like Jim Jones, before he led his "People's Temple" into a mass suicide ritual.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Jobs did that when his health starts failing. "Come on people, swallow your iPills, grab your iPads and we'll all ascend into a super clean sterile white-plastic heaven for eternity! It'll look like the greatest Apple store there's ever been!"
