Agreed. Apple went the wrong way with this by killing AirPort - which could easily have been expanded to become a semi-standard smart home hub.

That space is probably going to be owned by a descendant of Alexa.

But Apple's problems go much deeper. Product design has been mediocre since Jobs died, which either suggests that Ive isn't quite the genius he was sold as, or that Cook + Ive is a zero sum game.

Software quality is also mediocre. There always nice features, but discovery has all but disappeared as a concept, and bugs are a real thing.

But the real problem is lack of imagination. While everyone is arguing about how much an iPhone should cost, iPhones are already last decade's product line.

There should have been a new market-leading product line by now. There isn't.

Car is going nowhere. AR might be a thing, but unless it's a bullseye it's going to be Watch 2.0 - nice tech that doesn't have a can't-argue-with-this sells-itself need to exist.

IoT and smart home could have been a huge thing, but instead Apple handed HomeKit over to the market with a shrug. (Were the margins too small for Mr Cook? Maybe...)

So now there's a big yawning void where the new ideas should be. Momentum will keep the machine running for a long while yet, but without some freshness Apple is in danger of becoming a rather dull company with negative wowness.