iPad 9.7‑inch
It sure feels like Apple is getting desperate. Not sure what&#x27;s going on. I know this is a single data point but just a few days we went to our local Apple store.  It wasn&#x27;t quite empty but it was nowhere near as busy as it was, say, a year ago.  No buzz.<p>At my personal level, we have not updated our iPads and iPods for a number of years.  Don&#x27;t plan to.<p>I still have a 4S.  I have disliked everything Apple has done since then and so did not upgrade.  The device is getting slow over time.  This, by itself, is enough to bother me.  It used to work fine.  Software updates have made it sluggish.  This is wrong.  I know I will have to upgrade at one point yet I am not looking forward to upgrading to another iPhone.  Apple probably has one shot at convincing people like me with iPhone 8. Hint:  I am sick and tired of &quot;thinner&quot;.  I could not care less. &quot;Thinner&quot; ceased to be a benefit a very long time ago.  They need to solve real problems.  Beyond that, you can only say &quot;beautiful&quot; so many times before it becomes a joke. Beautiful, beyond a basic aesthetic, isn&#x27;t a solution to any real problem.  At least none I have.<p>Past that, we have pulled our last app from the app store.  Actually, Apple required an upgrade and I decided not to invest the time and money to do it.  Why?  Because the app store is useless unless you get lucky, throw money at it or both.<p>App discoverability is impossible.  The other thing that is also impossible is to create relationships with your users. Business is about relationships and this walled garden prevents you from creating such relationships.  In a way I equate this to groups on Facebook.  FB has made it so that you have to pay to reach an audience you worked hard to create.  You can have a million person group and only reach a couple thousand or less people per post.  If you want to reach more you have to pay.  In other words, you don&#x27;t &quot;own&quot; your audience the same way you would through an opt-in email list.<p>And so, it is goodbye to the App store, it isn&#x27;t worth our time, money and effort.<p>All of the above leads me to conclude that the Apple era is in jeopardy if they can&#x27;t come up with enough of a pivot to provide value and get people exited again.