This isn't just about social apps. If this story is true it really doesn't reflect well on Apple's senior management.
Apple will continue to print money in the immediate future, just as Microsoft did in the 00's, but buying a startup which never had a viable product, business plan or assets for an inflated valuation like this is a good sign that Apple has lost direction and focus. Social is not their core competence, and should not be, and even if it was color is the last company they should buy. If color is failing, they could easily poach the best staff after it implodes, rather than buying the shell.
Nothing Apple has ever done in the social context has ever reflected well on Apple's senior management. They survived Ping, they'll survive this. And it won't be a nailbiter. Wanna bet?
I'm sure they'll survive, and yes they don't have a good record on social and cloud stuff from mobile me to ping. But jumped the shark doesn't mean they'll go out of business this year or this decade, it just means they're at the start of a long slow decline in quality and are out of ideas - that won't stop them making lots of money though, in fact whether they make money and survive is not really related to whether they have 'jumped the shark'.
So, whether they continue to break sales records and revenue and profit, or not, you are right either way? It's just a matter if you are really right, or tremendously right?
I wasn't aware this was a points scoring exercise, frankly, who cares if I'm right? I was just pointing out that the original post was not related to Apple's financial performance, but was criticising their lack of direction and quality lately - those have a long lead time in relation to profits - they can coast for a very long time now on the reputation they have built up, and the loyal customers they have (just as MS has for the last decade).
You took jumped the shark to mean peaked in profits, I suspect the OP didn't mean it that way as it's normally used to refer to a decline in quality, that's all we disagree on.
Apple will continue to print money in the immediate future, just as Microsoft did in the 00's, but buying a startup which never had a viable product, business plan or assets for an inflated valuation like this is a good sign that Apple has lost direction and focus. Social is not their core competence, and should not be, and even if it was color is the last company they should buy. If color is failing, they could easily poach the best staff after it implodes, rather than buying the shell.