Mac 'Fanboys,' Who View Tech Company With Religious Fervor, Sense Void as Leader Steps Aside
Steve Jobs has stepped down from his pulpit. Now, followers of the "Cult of Mac" are contemplating a world without their charismatic leader.
Investors took news of Mr. Jobs' departure in stride, pushing Apple shares down less than one percent in Thursday trading. And across the technology and business worlds, Mr. Jobs continued to receive plaudits for his innovative role in modern business. Even competitors from the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. lined up to sing his praises.
The most fervent devotion still rests with Apple's devotees, often called "fanboys," who have provided a sales base to see the company through its darkest hour of near bankruptcy to become one of the world's most valuable companies. They have served as a core of early adopters who, with often evangelical fervor, helped ignite interest in Apple products.
For many, devotion to Apple Inc. products has come with a special reverence for Mr. Jobs, who founded the company in 1976. While in elementary school, enthusiast Allen Paltrow posted a photo of Mr. Jobs on his wall. "He was the first celebrity of any type that I could recognize," said Mr. Paltrow, now 19 years old.
When he was 10, Mr. Paltrow sent Mr. Jobs an impassioned email about how much he loved Apple products that earned his family a tour of the company's headquarters. His parents let him buy $800 of Apple stock. He began shaving an Apple logo into the back of his head.
In 2006, at the grand opening of an Apple store on New York's Fifth Avenue, Mr. Paltrow met Mr. Jobs in person. Mr. Paltrow, who is now a sophomore at Princeton studying computer science said.
"I shook his hand and didn't wash it for a long time."
The comparisons between Apple and a religion began as early as 1994, when Italian scholar Umberto Eco wrote a humorous essay in which he compared Apple to the Catholic church—and Microsoft Corp.'s DOS to the Protestant one.
Other cultural critics extended the metaphor, noting that Apple has a creation myth, a powerful leader, a devil adversary, rituals and adherents eager to convert others. The creation myth: Mr. Jobs and fellow founder Steve Wozniack built if from nothing in a garage. Mr. Jobs had a "second coming" when he returned to lead Apple in 1997 after previously being ousted as CEO. An adversary formed in the person of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The rituals include Mr. Jobs's keynotes and breathless build-ups to product launches.
Earlier this year, a report by the British Broadcasting Corp. found that on an MRI scan, an Apple fanatic's brain was stimulated by Apple the same way that religious imagery does for people of faith.
Images of Steve Jobs have been known to give Apple evangelists a rush of eurphoria?
Leander Kahney, editor of the "Cult of Mac" blog, said Apple devotees hate being called "cultish." Noting that the name of his blog is a bit of an inside joke. Still, he said that Apple lovers do share a uniquely strong sense of community. He says.
"It makes it sound like they are mindless zombies. If you are a Mac user, you think other Mac users are like you."
The devotion of Mr. Jobs's followers is legendary. They camp out overnight in front of Apple stores before product launches, with Apple employees handing out drinks and snacks. They pore over emails that Mr. Jobs sporadically responded to personally. And they are known to passionately defend Apple products against any who might challenge their superiority.
Apple's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., became the mecca for some faithful, selling T-shirts that read, "I visited the Mothership." Apple's line of retail stores have become so iconic, they've lately spawned a mini-trend of people filming videos of themselves dancing in them. (Store employees usually don't interfere.)
Heidi Campbell, a professor of communication at Texas A&M University who has studied how the iPhone came to be known colloquially as the "Jesus Phone" said.
"Apple exhibits a religious-like quality. People feel devotion to Apple, and it provides a sense of community and identity."
New York University anthropology professor Angela Zito said she would stop short of calling Apple a religion, but thinks it shares elements with a religion such as a sense of identity. She said.
"In our society now, so much is built around consumption of things and advertising, a lot of people find a sense of community around the things that they buy."
Some Apple evangelists are overcome with a rapture-like feeling of heavenliness and euphoria. This blonde chick loses all her senses and inhibitions as she dances inside an actual Apple Store.
A young runaway kid, exhibits similar symptoms of euphoria, as he prances about dancing to a hip-hop tune of some kind.
The question now is whether the religious fervor will go on.
Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton said,
"Apple is a company and culture unlike any other in the world and we are going to stay true to that. We are going to continue to make the best products in the world that delight our customers and make our employees incredibly proud of what they do."
After the news of his resignation, many Apple fans reflected on the future of their community without its leader—and the possibility that Apple might become fallible. Lisa Morales-Hellebo, the founder of online shopping startup ShopSuey in Silver Spring, Md. says.
"There's a huge void. I don't know that there is a visionary that could step in and fill those shoes."
"Cult of Mac" editor Mr. Kahney says.
"Steve is the most colorful figure in the cult. But it will survive without him," "He might be like Obi-Wan Kenobi – he might be even stronger when he is gone."
COMMENTARY: I have to admit that I have yet to experience religious Zen-like euphoria of Steve Jobs and Apple products. I live in the past, but I like it that way. I much prefer my Sony Sports water-resistant portable music player circa 1989. This predates the Apple iPod by nearly a full decade, and you can drop it from a car going 30 mph, and it will still play. Try that with your iPod. Try playing a real CD on your iPod. Can't do it, can you? I close my case.
Courtesy of an article dated August 26, 2011 appearing in The Wall Street Journal
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