I quit

I have two more books to write and publish, but, save for fringes around the edges here and there, whatever kind of “public life” I previously had is over.

And has been for decades, as I have realized the whole while. (“Why now, Joe? Why not 20 years ago‽”)

“How small can I get?”

That has been the question to myself in recent years.

It has been established over a period of half a lifetime that no one values (least of all is willing to pay me for) my knowledge and connoisseurship. I am the only or last man standing with the kind of knowledge I have, in well more than a few fields of expertise. The calculus is as follows: If there is one and only one way to solve a problem, the problem will sit unsolved forever if the solution is attached to me. It has been clear for years that seemingly everyone is willing to jettison my expertise, and just let all of it die with me.

If there was a breaking point, James Craig of Apple unhesitatingly and with intent placed the final straw. James was in town for a Web-standards meeting to which I was not invited. He took me to late lunch before heading off to the airport.

It was quite a cold Saturday afternoon –

– and, across the