I worked there for a while until a year before Steve came back. I always dreamed of working at Apple having spent most of my career up til then building stuff for Macs. But it was pretty depressing (they lost $1B while I was there) and I didn't want to be there when they died. But I liked working in IL, the cafeteria was great, so many cool people to work with. But it was obvious none of the execs had any idea how to fix all the issues. I wondered who would own IL afterwards. Of course I was an idiot for leaving, but telling the future was not my strong suit.
I think most companies in Apple's position would have folded, or hobbled on for a few years while they sell off more and more of their business. You did a reasonable thing.
I don’t think you can beat yourself up too much for that one - Apple’s turn around in the late 90s was hardly obvious or even probable at times. If I’d been at Apple during the period just before (heck even during) the NEXT acquisition I’d have constantly been considering jumping ship before the seemingly inevitable collapse too.
