I think today’s Apple = Microsoft (circa 2005)

This past weekend I spent some time at my local Apple Store.
While perusing Apple’s proprietary and 3rd-party products, I came to a couple of opinionated conclusions. In summary, Apple has completely lost its tight focus and coherent ecosystem.
On the floor were old iPods: Touch, Nano, and Shuffle (the latter two were recently discontinued), old Mac Minis, old Mac Pros, new MacBook Pros, Beats branded headphones alongside other 3rd-party headphones and Bluetooth speakers, etc. Then with all of that, they had a table or two filled with Apple Watches and associated wrist bands.
It was a complete and chaotic mess that made absolutely no sense.
Several years ago, I would happily walk into an Apple Store and felt a compelling urge to buy anything that I didn’t already own. I had an OCD itch that could only be defused by buying something … anything that would complete my computing/internet/media/technology experience. These days, when I visit the physical store or go online to their website, I immediately say to myself, “Meh. I can live without that.”, “What is this for?”, “Why would anyone want this … at this price?”
At any rate, while playing with the latest Apple TV’s confusing remote controlled, it all seemed so clear. Apple is trying to slowly get out of the consumer technology business. Not completely, but definitely in the way that we knew it for the past two decades. This isn’t something that we all haven’t heard before, but the truth finally hit me like a ton of bricks.
As stated before by analysts, Tim Cook wants Apple to become a media and services company that mainly focuses on tv, music, cloud, etc with maybe some dabbling in miscellaneous pursuits like autonomous vehicles, AR, etc.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe they’ll be as successful in this space because they’re ignoring the rest of their needed ecosystem that will compel consumers to pay an Apple tax for more competitive products and services.
For example, in 2016, Apple discontinued the Airport lineup of Wi-Fi routers. Around that time, top executives admitted that they erroneously ignored the Mac Pro. Of course, you may have heard about the less than stellar reception of the new MacBook Pro. They haven’t updated any of the iPod line up. iCloud is nowhere near the quality of its competitors and list goes on.
Hence, why, as a consumer and a hobbyist developer, would I buy into their newer ventures, when Google, Amazon, and others are doing a much better job at a much more competitive price? This doesn’t even include a discussion on the many complaints about Apple’s software woes seen with the bloated iTunes, fumbling of the new Final Cut Pro, etc.
Conversely, if Apple was committed to having a close-knit ecosystem, it would make perfect sense to continue to buy all Apple products for whatever my tech and media needs were. This would include investing in Apple Music and future Home and AR Kit offerings. Why? Again, because I would believe that everything would all work together seamlessly with little to no hassle.
Yes, Apple is making a hell of a lot of money and might be the first company to hit a trillion-dollar valuation. Much like Microsoft was back in the 2000s. But I think it’s doing itself a disservice in the long run by not continuing to make products that strengthen and sustain a complete technological ecosystem in the form of newer and relevant wireless routers, laptops, desktops (consumer AND professional grade), iPods, etc. By themselves, it’s easy to call these “small” billion dollar niches, but I believe they are the foundational pieces for the future technologies that AR, VR, autonomous vehicles, true cloud computing, etc. will be built on.
