You can fault Tim Cook for a number of things. Number one on the list, of course, is that he is not Steve Jobs. The nerve of that man!

What made Steve an effective and visionary leader was that his values were so crystal clear. He inspired Apple’s troops to excel in innovation, design and simplicity.

But he was also passionate about something that seems almost “old school”—the customer experience. Creating the best experience would lure new customers and build brand loyalty.

This is how Steve laid out his plan to us at the ad agency when he returned to a nearly bankrupt Apple in the late 1990s. The customer experience was all-important.

From that point on, Steve would go on to spend lavishly on things that improved the experience, and he would reject—often brutally—any idea that diluted or harmed the experience.

That was Steve’s red line. Cross it if you dare.

And what is the status of that distinct red line today? Sadly, it’s getting a bit blurry.

Recent reports say that we will soon be seeing ads in Apple Maps. Just as we saw ads appear in the App Store in 2015 and get amped up in 2021.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that uninvited advertising is not normally equated with a better customer experience. Why would Apple do such a thing?

Shocker—it’s about money. One can only imagine how eyes lit up in the Apple boardroom as they celebrated a new revenue stream.

Who knows how, or even if, these ads register with Apple users as they become more visible. After all, ads are all around us today, everywhere we go. Still, many will shake their heads in disappointment that Apple—one of the richest companies on earth—is selling a piece of its soul for a bit of easy money.

What would Steve Jobs do?

I usually dodge that question on the grounds that it’s pure speculation. However, in this case, it is not speculation at all. I was in the room when Steve was presented with an eerily similar “opportunity.”

Here’s what happened.

Some time ago (1999-ish), agency chief Lee Clow and I were invited to a hastily scheduled meeting with Steve and his top lieutenants. The topic was building advertising into the Mac system software.

At that time, customers paid $125 for the annual upgrade to the Mac OS. It was proposed that Apple offer two flavors—an ad-free version for $125 and a free version subsidized by ads. Something for everyone! Free choice!

A number of ways to integrate ads were discussed.

One was to show a cool video from a respected company (such as Nike) every time the Mac starts up. Another was to place ads in the OS contextually. For example, an “out of ink” notification might contain an ad for an ink supplier.

After spirited debate, there was no immediate decision. But days later, Steve told me he had killed the idea. His bottom line was that it degraded the pure, elegant, clean interface that Mac users love.

It didn’t matter that customers would be free to choose a version with or without ads. He didn’t want any user to see the OS polluted in this way.

He was protecting Apple’s crown jewels. He wouldn’t sacrifice the purity of the Mac experience to make a few extra bucks. He avoided the slippery slope by refusing to step onto it.

All hail the red line!

Now, fast-forward to the present. Apple’s evolution tells us that red lines do not magically live forever. They exist only as long as company leaders want them to exist. Without proper maintenance, they begin to disappear.

Whatever his reason, Tim Cook is not as protective of the user experience as his predecessor was. If we were to ask Tim why it’s okay to bring ads into Apple products now, but wasn’t okay during Steve’s reign, the best (only?) answer would probably be, “Today’s Apple is very different from Steve’s Apple.”

Quite true. And that is exactly the problem.