Apple’s Diet of Worms

It’s not the mistakes that matter. Apple has made them before. The Newton, MobileMe, the butterfly keyboard. What matters is the posture. A company once defined by joyful provocation—by thinking different—is now defined by its defensiveness. Its leadership acts not like inventors but like stewards of a status quo. They protect margins like relics. They fear dilution. They optimize at the expense of surprise.

I’ve been really into Joan Westenberg’s writing here lately. In her most recent post, she compares Apple’s current posture to that of Charles V, who had to face Martin Luther’s simple yet devastating observations of where the church was failing.

I can’t say I’m over Apple as a company, mostly because I still am not aware of a better option for the sort of work I do.

But you’d better believe I’m on the lookout for a better browser, a better phone experience, a better in-home audio setup, and a better wearable.