If Apple is richer than ever, why does it feel so broke?

First, Macalope would like to assure you that it does No in the Epstein files. Let’s get that out of the way.

Macalope is letting you know because they seem to be featuring a lot of people lately, including one Tim Cook! Yes, Cook’s Lack of Good Sense Tour continues as the Apple CEO is thankfully caught with his pants up, but with his values ​​down.

Macalope tells you about an iOS feature you may not know about, Time. When someone you don’t want to talk to or just calls he really shouldn’tthere is a little button that says “send to voicemail”. This is a really useful feature when you get calls from spammers or annoying relatives or people who have been charged with multiple sex crimes.

Epstein contacted Cook on behalf of Steven Sinofsky, who had been ousted at Microsoft. In addition to trafficking underage girls with the wealthy, Epstein apparently also connected the wealthy to do business, sort of like the disgusting LinkedIn. Okay, more disgusting LinkedIn.

This is the third accused sex offender this week that Cook has interacted with, while X, Grok and other apps that create non-consensual sexual images of women and minors continue to be hosted on the App Store, the world’s safest store, according to Apple.

(Rainbow, star, jingle, “The more you know” phrase.)

To no one’s surprise, the guy who runs X and Grok is also part of Epstein’s files, and in a much less passive, much more “Hey dude, when can we meet?” way. (And yes, Macalope knows Bill Clinton and others are there. Also gross.)

One may curiously recall 2018, when Cook gave Mark Zuckerberg some sage advice: the way to avoid having to deal with the consequences of bad situations is to not get into them. Cook should have listened to himself.

We are experiencing a period of great anxiety in the Apple community, and much of it is the result of Tim Cook’s leadership. Cook has done a tremendous job over the years, building on Apple’s success and taking the company to new heights. For years, Macalope skewered pundits who argued that Cook had failed because he didn’t deliver a product as successful as the iPhone, as if it was reasonable to suggest he would deliver another once-in-a-lifetime product. Cook’s tenure has been mature and stable, and in the more than a decade and a half he’s led the company, Apple has continued to deliver hits like the Apple Watch and AirPods.

But Apple has burned a lot of goodwill with its biggest fans because of the company Cook has kept, his maniacal grip on the App Store (but it’s magically loosened for Elon Musk), some recent design decisions (cough– liquid glass –cough– horrible icons –cough), and failing to deliver an improved Siri. People who used to be seen as mostly friendly to the company are having less fun in its corner these days.

Kevin Renskers Says “Tim Cook Sold Apple’s Soul”. Now, Kevin, while the US Supreme Court has said that corporations are individuals, they have yet to grant them souls, so Macalope will thank you for stopping the exaggeration. Think of the corporation as a sexy vampire like Lestat, Spike, or two of the four guys from Vampire Weekend.

All this after John Gruber’s “Something is Rotten in the State of Cupertino” last year (and many posts since).

For years pundits have told us that this time is different because honk-honk blazzlefrozzle with jello and Macalope made fun of them every time. And indeed, to Gemmell’s point, no one is saying that society will feel any fallout from this surge of discontent. More is a shame.

But while the game may still be playing and the home team may still be winning, fans are leaving the arena. The cheering dies down.