The problem is that even as powerful as Google is, Apple eclipses everyone in the money-and-power department, especially in the late 2000's. Also note that having Google services kicked off of the iPhone in the late 2000's simply was not an option for Google. It's easy to do armchair quarterbacking from behind your keyboard but when there's billions of dollars on the line it's not as simple to give someone the middle finger.
Note I do not condone the behavior and would have liked to see it turn into a thermonuclear bidding war for engineers just like everyone else. But I sure as hell understand why a lot of these people rolled over. I do like that Facebook told Apple to get fucked though. That was nice to see.
There some of us engineers go again, playing checkers for temporary baubles with those who play chess and for keeps and the deed of the land the game is played upon, never mind the milk and cow. If the most the fevered imaginations some engineers can come up with on an upside scenario of this wage-fixing affair is "thermonuclear bidding war for engineers", then this subset of engineers as a group don't believe the power of their own constructions, and deserve to lose control over what they make.
This period we live in today is where we are still building the nascent infrastructure of what is likely going to be looked upon as a seminal and epochal change in the species' economic (at least, if not other areas of human endeavor) development in the far (10+ generations) future. Another impactful change like this won't happen again for a long, long time; this is mass adoption of the printing press change, modern banking practices establishment type change. Entire Great Law of the Iroquois spans of time (seven generations) pass without these types of changes. We would likely need some development like perfecting self-sustaining fusion power or Drexlerian nanotech to arrive at such a pivotal moment again.
If you do not want to bemoan in late life regrets for not seizing this historical moment and for leaving it to non-technical people to seize it instead, then the wage-fixing should be a clear signal that what we build has far more significance than technical accomplishment in exchange for temporary compensation. There is vast wealth being constructed here, and lots of non-engineers are intent upon seizing control of it. Wage-fixing is a tool of such control, but not in the obvious manner. The subtext not explored sufficiently is the wage-fixing serves a larger purpose: wages high enough to keep employees satisfied to stay on (and the wage-fixing "encourages" them to stay in one place), but not quite high enough to cause too many of them to literally afford the opportunity to strike out on their own and capture a slice of the wealth being created by using their creative efforts to build their own piece of the emerging wealth. That to me is the more meaningful aspect of control about the wage-fixing. The mentality of the top leadership at these companies is decidedly not cornucopian-oriented in the time frames they operate in when thinking about employee compensation, so leaving and successfully building anything on your own is a straight zero sum loss to them (because time preference differ between the parties).
I don't need to be telling HN readers this as here lies gathered an immense pool of people breaking out and building their own piece of the future wealth horizon; that's preaching to the choir. But the wider technical audience needs to be informed about this battle for control over a future wealth source of humanity.
Feeling self important today much? Talk about some hyperbole. You speak as if you have 20/20 vision from the future. There are other things than technical talent needed to build this future you speak of - including sociology, political acumen, and taste to name a few. Please don't over inflate our powers.
Note I do not condone the behavior and would have liked to see it turn into a thermonuclear bidding war for engineers just like everyone else. But I sure as hell understand why a lot of these people rolled over. I do like that Facebook told Apple to get fucked though. That was nice to see.