There was a lot of breathless coverage about how Steve Jobs was irreplaceable, and Apple hummed along for years after his death and seemed to do not only fine, but achieved heights Jobs maybe never even dreamed of. But the columns were right - Apple is completely rudderless and has been for years. Apple literally prints money increasingly from “services,” which is made up in large part of rent-seeking. It’s why they’re willing to burn their reputation by fighting antitrust regulation until the bitter end.

Steve Jobs was Walt Disney - Apple didn’t invent products to make money, they made money to invent more products. Now, the bean counters are in charge. I’m an Apple fanboy for 25 years now, and I find their latest products, and the company itself, now completely charmless. Apple Vision was always going to be a flop because nobody gives two shits about how many pixels you can strap to your face; they care about the experience. And Apple Vision gives you precious little content to experience. Jobs would have never shipped this product without the content to make it shine. But he died a lifetime ago in tech…