It seems to me attitudes started shifting around the time the iPhone was introduced. I suspect it was a combination of many people perceiving Apple as benevolen

It seems to me attitudes started shifting around the time the iPhone was introduced. I suspect it was a combination of many people perceiving Apple as benevolent, and the iPhone being seen as a toy or accessory rather than what would be a primary device for the average person a decade later. I recall a conversation in which someone responded to some criticism I had with "they built a Playstation for adults, what's the problem with that?". Of course, that kind of power corrupts regardless of its wielder's benevolence, with there being recent examples of Apple imposing, or being forced to impose censorship on services provided through third-party apps (e.g. Telegram being forced to censor doxxing of Belarusian police), and smartphones play a much more important role in society than game consoles do.