Apple is not quite ready to serve you

[Bloomberg]( Today’s Agenda - Apple’s new persona is [not ready for prime time](. - Trump is a [bad winner](, as his [ACA attack]( proves. - Parliament [takes the wheel from May](, drives aimlessly. - Update America’s [mining regulations]( for the, uh, 20th Century. New Apple Unready for Picking The entity known as “Apple Inc.” has been reincarnated many times. It’s gone from legendary garage-based computer-maker to also-ran to iPod inventor to civilization-changing iPhone deity. But the iPhone magic is wearing off as sales decline, forcing the company to adopt yet another new incarnation: Fun Digital Services Apple. It had one of its big events yesterday to debut this new persona, and it was as flashy as any other Apple event – Oprah! Spielberg! Big Bird! – but what it lacked was [much in the way of actual, uh, digital services](, notes Shira Ovide. Some of what Apple announced (its news service) was just a reheated offering of what it already serves. The rest was broad-outline, distant-future stuff, all still restricted to the relatively small walled garden of Apple’s devices, where most of phone-using humanity does not tread. “If the bullish investment thesis about Apple rests on its competence to transition to a digital services company, Monday’s event put a dent in that notion,” Shira writes. Read the [whole thing](. Further Big Tech Reading: - Samsung’s profit warning is basically the inverted yield curve, [but for the whole tech sector](. – Tim Culpan - It’s [not a good look for Google]( to stop working with the U.S. military but keep helping China. – Hal Brands Trump Snatching Defeat From Jaws of Victory President Donald Trump and his supporters spent another day end-zone dancing about how Attorney General Robert Barr’s characterization of Robert Mueller’s Russiagate report kinda-sorta exonerated him. “The Resistance,” the media, Democrats and certain national security officials all have [some soul-searching to do](, observes Eli Lake. Still, Team Trump’s jubilation is unseemly and risky, as are [its threats to wreak vengeance]( on reporters, pundits, politicians and anybody else who has criticized POTUS, writes Jonathan Bernstein. It’s a reminder of why Trump’s unfit for his job, Jonathan writes, adding that his premature celebration makes it more likely the actual Mueller report might embarrass him. Speaking of which, Trump took this very moment of seeming triumph to aim a bazooka at the Affordable Care Act, which he has already spent two fruitless years trying to destroy, to his and his party’s political detriment. Max Nisen points out this would mean millions losing their health-care coverage and being punished for having pre-existing health conditions, just in time for the 2020 election. If Democrats were reeling from Trump’s (as-yet-unconfirmed) Russiagate exoneration, [they got a fresh shot of life from this](, Max writes. Like a Rolling Brexit Britain continued to Brexit around like a chicken with its head cut off. Parliament voted to take control of the process from Theresa May, whatever that means, but it’s still [hopelessly lost about what it wants to do](, exactly, writes Therese Raphael. A few hard-core Brexiteers held their noses and [said they’d vote]( for May’s twice-rejected plan, but that still seems like a long shot. Tomorrow Parliament will consider a New Jersey diner menu’s worth of Brexit options, and will vote separately on each of them, until they narrow them down to a handful, and then there will be more votes, more winnowing, until eventually [Zeno’s Paradox]( kicks in and they never get anywhere. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron will be in France, [holding the door slightly ajar]( for Britain to come back home to the EU, Lionel Laurent writes. Mining Their Own Business For some inexplicable reason, the U.S. still operates under something called [the General Mining Act of 1872](. This lets the hardrock mining industry – which digs for gold, silver and other minerals – spend minimal amounts on land; avoid paying royalties for the minerals it finds; and ignore its environmental damage. This may have been sensible policy back when America was Manifest Destinying its way to the Pacific Ocean. But it has made very little sense for several decades, Bloomberg editorial board writes. It’s long past time Congress changed it. Telltale Charts With so much debt yielding less than zero now, it’s tempting to chase yield in risky investments. [Now is a good time to resist that urge](, counsels Brian Chappatta. Activists are [right to target Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.](, writes Sarah Halzack. The only question is whether it’s too late to help. Further Reading The world [isn't doing enough to fight right-wing terrorism](. – Sasha Havlicek and Zahed Amanullah Neither Israel’s [Golan Heights nor Russia’s Crimean annexation]( should be recognized. – Leonid Bershidsky Neither Israel nor Hamas wants a protracted conflict, but [they might get it anyway](. – Hussein Ibish NIMBYism is [destroying the quality of life]( in America’s biggest cities. – Tyler Cowen Businesses should actively [recruit students from non-elite]( colleges. – Margaret Spellings Italy’s populist government is [making authoritarian China feel good]( about itself. – Virginia Postrel The Fed has [no idea how inflation happens]( or how to influence it. – Jim Bianco The Reimann family can [atone for its Nazi past]( best by helping immigrants. – Leonid Bershidsky There are many legitimate ways to [shake companies down for money](. Michael Avenatti allegedly tried a different way. – Matt Levine Even if Theranos hadn’t been a Potemkin village, its [device wouldn’t really have helped humanity](. – Faye Flam ICYMI Trump tried to [undo North Korea sanctions]( after all. Jussie Smollett’s [charges were dropped](. Nissan paid $601,000 to send [Carlos Ghosn’s kids to Stanford](. Kickers Man steals $122 million from Facebook and Google by [sending them fake invoices](. New Jersey high school’s [production of “Alien: The Play](” goes viral. (h/t Scott Kominers for first two kickers) [Very cool pictures of octopi]( and squid. (h/t Alistair Lowe) The 50 best movies of 1999, parts [one]( and [two](. (The rankings are bad, the movies aren’t.) Note: Please send invoices and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. 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