Not to get into corporate personage, but corporations can still be benevolent or malevolent, friendly or hostile. I don't know if I'd call Apple friendly - they're a bit aloof to be friends - but a company like Pixar I'd readily call a friend.
"Friendly" is distinctly different from "a friend."
a company like Pixar I'd readily call a friend.
I love Pixar, but they're not my friend, and they're not your friend, for at least three reasons:
1. Pixar, like all public companies, exists for one purpose: to make a profit. In fact, they have a fiduciary responsibility to their owners to pursue this purpose and if they don't, they can be sued.
2. Pixar is an organization made up of thousands of people. It's impossible for a group that's made up of thousands of conscious and self-determinant humans to be your friend. You might as well say that North Dakota is your friend.
3. Pixar does not know who you are. They do not know your name, what kind of ice cream you like, or why you enjoy riding a bicycle built for two. And to the extent that they do have any of this knowledge, it's referred to as data and is used in pursuit of the goals described in #1.
Unalone - corporations are by nature, by their charters, sociopathic entities. I'm not trying to be a hater, it's just the truth. They exist for very specific purposes, and by design they pursue the highest profit margin possible (publicly-traded companies in particular). There's a real danger in assigning human emotions or anthropomorphic qualities, it unnecessarily confuses policy issues.
Think of someone complaining about their computer or a program, "It doesn't waaaaant to! [do whatever]"
