Good Enough AI: Why Apple's Case Measures the Wrong Thing

Podcast/Substack · ~29 min · Listen · (gathered 2026-09-16)

• Nate B. Jones argues that Apple’s “good enough AI” strategy, which suggests on-device AI will satisfy most user needs, “measures the wrong thing” by assuming demand for intelligence is a fixed list rather than an evolving landscape.
• He draws an analogy to the 1997 gigabit connection, explaining that new capabilities like AI create their own demand by enabling previously unimagined applications, rather than merely fulfilling existing tasks more efficiently.
• AI builds its own demand: solving one task often creates a larger, subsequent job, and cheap models encourage new software development that reveals what AI is truly for.
• The “relationship” with your AI provider, not the device, is the recurring cost; Apple has already indicated it will charge for server-side AI features (e.g., daily usage limits, future fees), meaning “whoever is holding your work when the answer changes is the company you keep paying.”