To be fair, sj dropped the ball on succession planning. Tim Cook, the promoted bean counter, is perfect as a profit-extraction leader Wall St. wants but nothing like sj in terms of valuing the product experience or category-defining innovation that doesn't steer things straight towards maximizing profits. The problem is, when the largest demographic, ordinary people, grow tired of throwing huge sums at fragile, stagnant, less cool, less durable tech they eventually stop buying and start buying elsewhere. Apple needs to find a founder-like CEO who is more concerned with leading, cool, usability, durability, and category-changing vision and less Cook or Scully brand exploitation for profit maximization.
I am thinking the same thing as the author of the article. Long time Apple Fanboy here. I remember Steve Jobs doing things for free to improve customer loyalty. Now that Ernst Röhm, oh I mean Tim Cook is kissing up, I’m looking for an off ramp. After the dividend is paid my Apple stock is gone.