My first job, in California, was just transitioning to leetcode-style interviews in 2007 following the industry trend. So it was probably spreading around that time.
Take a CO2 meter into a hotel, office, convention center, etc in summer. In many, it will be at 1200+. I've seen up to 2500. This is due to "green" interior air recycling that just happens to save companies a few dollars on air conditioning. How much of society is operating under this lower IQ condition?
I take it as a sign of typical increasing corporate dysfunction. Obvious problems, some even easy and uncontroversial, don't get fixed. Why?
The people who can fix them are not in control. The org must be very top-down. But Steve Jobs had a top down style, so what's the difference? Its: Using and caring about the product.
It's top down direction with the people at the top not using/caring about the product. Presumably they're concerned with other things like efficiency, stocks, clout.