I can relate to the sadness of those witnessing the slow-motion atrophy of an epic company. Apple have been the company that "did it right", that made it "just work" and got out of your way, all while looking ridiculously beautiful, without compromising on engineering quality and with sensible security baked in. Once upon a time I thought/hoped Apple would by Sun - what a world that would have been!

Given that's no longer the company we're being left with, is there a window of opportunity for a new entrant to step in and start filling that void using the same principles of design and cohesion that Apple have made famous? A sort of "Apple for Nerds"[1].

[1] BTW, this is not Google, nor should it be any company where the "customer" is actually the product.