Jean-Louis Gassée was a part of Apple in the early days of Macintosh, first as head of Apple France, then in Cupertino as Macintosh Marketing Director. A witness to the end of Steve Jobs’ first days at Apple.

In today’s Monday Note, Jean-Louis penned a beautiful remembrance of the anniversary of Steve’s passing, combined with some insightful thoughts on what Apple has become, is becoming:

So far, Apple has been viewed and valued by Wall Street as a kind of Hollywood studio: It’s too dependent on its next hit – or miss. Hence, for the same amount of profit, Apple gets a lower valuation than Google or Amazon. These companies are said to have built a “moat” around their business, they collect, in Horace Dediu’s words, “monopoly rents” from their well-protected businesses, just like Microsoft once did with its Windows-Office franchise. No such fortress for Apple – or so says the current lore. But, if you read Apple’s words, carefully vetted by attorneys and accountants, a fortress is precisely what the company is building with a functional organization singularly focused on its ecosystem.

Here’s a link. As usual with Jean-Louis, a thoughtful read.