Cult of Apple - Part 1
Before all the Apple fanatics jump on me, I want to make one thing clear. I don't hate Apple. In fact, I support their lead to a design conscious consumer electronics market. Though design doesn't always mean simple, like Albert Einstein once said "Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler", I will criticize Apple products later. I felt the need to write this article because I'm a bit concerned about Apple fans' behavior. Where does the fierce loyalty come from?
It all began so humbly. Most people with a passing knowledge of the history of the personal computer are aware that Apple founder Steve Jobs is famous for his "reality distortion field": his ability not only to deny objective fact but also to convince anyone within his reach that black equals white and yes is no. But how many have heard this advice on how to deal with Jobsian rhetoric?
One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. Evangelism marketing is an advanced form of word of mouth marketing (WOMM) in which companies develop customers who believe so strongly in a particular product or service that they freely try to convince others to buy and use it. The customers become voluntary advocates, actively spreading the word on behalf of the company. Evangelism literally comes from the three words of 'bringing good news' and the marketing term justly draws from the religious sense, as consumers are literally driven by their beliefs in a product or service, which they preach in an attempt to convert others.
Signal without noise. Guy Kawasaki, an ex-Apple-employee, is credited as being one of the first to use evangelistic methods to promote a computer brand, focusing on creating passionate user-advocates for the Apple brand. Apple formerly had a "Why Mac?" evangelist websites. The page no longer exists, but the company currently has a Get a Mac campaign page, which gives numerous reasons why PC users should switch to Macs. Kawasaki has recently switched from using Macs to using Linux, because he's disappointed in the route that Apple has taken. This could be interpreted, that Apple has become a just another regular technology-company and perhaps it was all lust from the start.
Think Differently. First of, Steve Jobs is charging enough for his products, at least he should have the decency to buy a dictionary! "Think Different" is not grammatically correct. Second, stop making fun of your competitors. In an article for Slate magazine, Seth Stevenson criticized the campaign as being too "mean spirited," suggesting that, "...isn't smug superiority (no matter how affable and casually dressed) a bit off-putting as a brand strategy?". A psychologist, Kelton Rhoads (Ph.D), made an 18-page analysis [PDF] which examines influence tactics in Apple's carefully-worded and well-executed comparative campaign. It also includes references to several criticisms made regarding the veracity of this campaign.
Argumentum in terrorem. An appeal to fear (also called argumentum ad metam or argumentum in terrorem) is a logical fallacy in which a person attempts to create support for her or his idea by increasing fear and prejudice toward a competitor. In the 'Viruses' commercial, Mac claims none of the viruses for PCs affect him, but macro viruses do not rely on the operating system but instead individual pieces of software, thus letting them work on either Macs or PCs with the affected software. There are spyware known to attack any operating system with a compatible browser. Moreover, Chris Szurgot, developer of Visual Studio 2005, thinks of the 'Viruses' commercial as FUD. It is also not the first time Apple engaged in a marketing strategy of disseminating negative (and vague) information on a competitor's product. This Apple commercial, called "Lemmings", was aired during the 1985 Super Bowl, the year after the famous "1984" commercial was aired.
What is a cult? According to Cult Information Center in London, every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following five characteristics:
1. It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members
2. It forms an elitist totalitarian society.
3. Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma.
4. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds recruit people.
5. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society.
Who do cults recruit? Cults want people who are:
- Intelligent.
- Idealistic.
- Well educated.
- Economically advantaged.
- Intellectually or Spiritually curious.
- Any age.
Is Apple a cult? If that question wasn't answered from what I wrote above, then here is a quote from Jeannie Mills, ex-member of The People's Temple, later found murdered.
"When you meet the friendliest people you have ever known, who introduce you to the most loving group of people you've ever encountered, and you find the leader to be the most inspired, caring, compassionate and understanding person you've ever met, and then you learn the cause of the group is something you never dared hope could be accomplished, and all of this sounds too good to be true-it probably is too good to be true! Don't give up your education, your hopes and ambitions to follow a rainbow."
To be continued..
Any constructive comments welcome.
Any constructive comments welcome.
45 thoughts:
I won't be biting that forbidden fruit no more.
iCult! :D
Well, what you have written sounds so true... till now I have never thought of buying any apple product including iPod. But iPhone really made me to think twice and that made me to even write an article on iPhone
I was about to bite into that apple thing as a whole, i.e. including the iCult. It is undoubtedly someone's responsibility to name that which is stupid. Your informative article, to which I am truly grateful, stood the challenge by saving my neck.
If stupidity were that stupid, it would not have so many victims.
Cheers,
middleXeast
Apple has mostly just created a popular fad for itself. Give it time and it will die like most fads do. Take the iPod for example. Sure, neat player and all that, snazzy looking, cool commercials. Really the iPod is an overpriced functionless mp3 player in comparison to similarly priced mp3 players by other companies...
And as for those stupid Mac commercials. They are complete BS. Take the one about compatibility. I've plugged mp3 players, phones, routers, speakers, flash drives, portable drives, iPods, etc. etc. etc. Never had to download new drivers, never had to do anything other than plug it in and open it. This is on a PC mind you. And as for the viruses. There's a reason why there aren't a whole lot of viruses for Mac systems. Why would anyone waste the time to learn how to write effective viruses against a system used by a severe minority of the population when you can simply create one for an OS that is used by half the world? It would be a waste of time. Most companies use Windows, most people use Windows, so logically, virus creators are going to focus on windows. Guaranteed if the Mac took over, it would become the new target, plain and simple.
You might not hate Apple, but I do. It's not the product, it's the fans and the company. People who really love it are morons, and the company continues to manipulate people via brainwashing commercials featuring actors who played Star Trek style geeks...
Grr...sorry lol.
iAgree almost with everything :-) If you have an apple product, you allways recommend it to a friend. We all should agree that their marketing is amazing.
Great product, poor strategy in my opinion. I don't like their smugness in the new tv campaign, claiming their superiority over PCs.
Great post. I Dugg it!
Never got a chance of using Apple but i have heard abt its fine architecture.The way they recruit si really what is needed in the industry.We need smart ppl who might not have very high education but whu are inventive.Invention always leads to this what apple has reached.Thx for sharing the info
I'm glad you are all enjoying this article.
@Paula: Thank you for submitting it to Digg.. but the Apple section? I think fans will bury it down and we might start seeing comments breathing fire here! =)
I don't use Linux, and I don't use Windows. I am strictly a Macintosh user. I hardly even use Parallels. :-)
Guy
I suppose then I am a cult member.
I have my Mac, and love it....
Using a Mac at home everyday, it really makes it painful to use Windows at work.
I must admit though, I have been missing Linux, which I used at home before I got a Mac.
Anyway, I enjoyed your post, agree with everything...
I have been noticing that Mr Jobs isn't to much better than Bill.
Starting to feel a little sorry for old Bill actually.
iLker :)
I find the smug tone of the current crop of adverts off-putting. One amusing little thing about them (in the UK versions at least) is one ad in which the PC says 'I'm good for work' and the Mac says 'I'm good for fun stuff'. What are they trying to say? To me that reads as, if you want to play games, buy a Mac, if you want to do serious things, buy a PC.
@Kate: No, I think for games you need a PC as well (in terms of computers, not consoles). What Macs are apparently good for is creating images, movies and such..
I guess if you spend the same amount of money on PC software, you would be doing the same things on a PC. Its just preloaded in a Mac.. but there you go.
If Microsoft preloaded Vista with all those creativity programs, it would be another monopoly lawsuit!!
I think just about everything in society has a cult following even cockroaches. I've met hardcore PC fans who have told other people to get a MAC because they are too stupid to own a PC. I just shrug my shoulders and say Que sera, Que sera.
I've wanted a MAC for a long time because I've heard that it's good with the graphics, they're fast and their OS is solid. That's really all I care about.
I don't really pay attention to commercials because all commercials treat you as though you are an idiot and at the end of the day, they can only bother you if you let them.
Sorry for the tirade. Just my 2cents :)
@Daria Black: I disagree when you said "all commercials treat you as though you are an idiot".. that is not true. I think you haven't seen the Johnnie Walker commercial I blogged about.
In fact, if that were true, then I wouldn't be blogging about commercials that make me think. Right?
Okay, that was probably an unfair generalization. I will say that most commercials treat their viewers poorly. :)
"Where does the fierce loyalty come from?"
Well, I can't speak for anyone but myself but ...
Back before there were Macs in Corporate, there were only PC's and mainframe. Everyone had one on their desk and they turned them on daily whether they knew how to use them or not.
I had an IBM at home and hated it. It was an expensive, ugly thing to work with. Sat on my desk. Lonely.
Then one of the bosses brought Macs in. I started using it in the work room and loved it. Even with a black and white monitor (yes, it was that long ago), it worked like I thought. What was in my head came out on the screen. I could create on it.
Eventually they bought one for my office. I worked for the Russian group and shortly after, the translators on the floor were bought Macs (it had the only decent software / fonts around for what they needed).
All the PC people gave the Mac people a real hard time. In the halls, at lunch, in meetings. Daily we had to listen to crap. Daily we formed thicker and thicker skins.
It was pretty weird as some of what the PC users dished out was nasty. Why, if it was only the Mac 'lovers' who were fanatic about their choice in computer? The distain shown by the PC users was pretty strong.
One thing I did notice was when the PC's were down for this and that repair, all the Macs kept on running. I remember when they all bought sound cards so the could have sound like the Macs and it crashed their computers. All up and down the hall you could hear cussing. Technicians running around from room to room. The Mac people just grinned because the Macs never went down for repairs. Only upgrades.
Years went by and Apple proved itself. Years went by and the Mac users, with this thick skin, turned the tables and enjoyed their bit in the sun.
The Macs are well made. They are a joy to use. Early on they had elements before the PC's, with the PC's lagging behind.
They were a more 'human' machine I guess you could say. PC users didn't have the same warm fuzzy feelings for their computer of choice due to this lack of warm and fuzzy in their computer. Makes sense really. But a cult? I wouldn't go that far. There is more of a connection with the product, that's for sure.
And these days? All anyone ever remembers is that Mac users are fanatical about their computers. They don't remember the cacca dished out in the early days. The constant belittlement over using a 'toy' over a real computer. Or the stand we were forced to take to defend our choice.
And these days I own both because I need both for my work. But I still use a Mac 99.99% over a PC. Why? Because it's what I know. It's what I enjoy using. I haven't put the time into learning the PC so if I do get frustrated with a computer, it's going to be the PC. And I realise that's what it's based on.
I don't give a stuff about either being better than one or the other. And when I'm around PC users the comments still fly back and forth, but it's all light hearted fun these days. Mainly because my friends and I have better things to do with our lives.
Note: I don't see ads on TV out here so I don't have to watch whatever insanity is going on out there.
They are just computers. They do the same things these days. It's time to get over it already.
If you do want a REAL argument, what about those people who love Miracle Whip over a real mayo? Now THAT's an argument I could sink my teeth into.
cat
@Cat: Thank you for sharing your experience Cat. Just to remind you, this isn't an argument about which is better, PC or Mac (which is a PC as well but runs a different OS). Nor it is a comparison of which OS is the best.
The main point of this article is Evangelist marketing. That is, recommending a product to a phase that it becomes peer pressure because "all the cool kids have it" and you must get it too in order to be cool. If that isn't a cult then can you suggest a better term?
From my experience, Apple users (not just OS X but iPod..etc) look down on other people who choose to "think different", except one of my friends who wasn't "pure" Apple devotee because he had other computers and mp3 players. I mean, sure you can recommend a gadget if it is really nice and easy to use but why pressure others?
Also, by no means I am advocating Microsoft. People who have read my previous posts know how much I try to avoid using their products as well. See my article on Microsoft Substitutes.
For an operating system, I think everyone should use Linux! =)
Very interesting article and a very different outlook.
I love Macs, I think they look beautiful, and the operating system is really intuitive, but I love PCs too, I like the freedom, compatibility and price(!).
It seems to be fashionable to be alternative at the moment; I have to say I love the irony.
If you're going to talk about applications, then I believe that virtual (online) apps. will eventually win over local (i.e Win Office). cough! Google cough!
In my opinion Win XP is a powerful OS and so is OS X (at least it should be, they've been tinkering with it for almost ten years). I haven't worked on a *nix machine yet, but I can safely say that they have their strong points too.
The point of the article was to ask the question, "Is Mac ownership a cult?" The answer is definitively yes. I have never been attacked by a PC fanatic who would almost go to the extent of driving me to the store to buy a PC if I was willing. I can not, however, say the same thing for Mac fanatics.
My boss has been trying to get me to buy a Mac for months now. It's gotten so bad that I have started my own little blog just to explain to him and the others why I don't want one. They're like fricken zombies!
Ilker, great post: you have got my mind going again...
As I answered you on MyBlogLog ... "Miracle Whip over a real mayo" ... I haven't lived in the west for a decade plus, and those were the ads going at that time. It was a tongue-in-cheek remark on how people take advertising so serious. Ad people are paid to get results. Sometimes getting results means setting some people against others. My point was that life is too short to buy into their con. Even if Miracle Whip people don't know what they're missing ...
“Just to remind you, this isn't an argument about which is better, PC or Mac “
Btw - I was answering YOUR question "Where does the fierce loyalty come from?"
@Cat: Ah, OK. Then I guess there was a misunderstanding. I thought you were talking about Mac OS.
"The Macs are well made." So you are saying the loyalty comes from the reliability of Apple hardware, am I right?
I can only speak for myself, my family and friends who own Macs. The Macs I've owned are reliable. Very. I'm not one of those who buy a new one (for myself) every year. In fact, since my first one, the Macs I own generally last 6 years. I'm forced to upgrade only because they can no longer run the software, but I kept the older (slower) models for the juniors (until they are impossible to run).
Where as my PC's have a shorter life span and have always been sick puppies as far as hardware goes (technicians know me well).
There is of course many possible reasons for this. As one unknowledegable about PCs, I could easily be buying the wrong brands, etc. (My present is an HP). But for a Mac, every one I've bought has been great, right off the shelf. Even the one my son overclocked ...
I think it is just personal preference. It is like in sports, you have someone root for Yankees, you also have someone root for the Cubs.
Just another Mac ad mocking Microsoft..
j'adore MAC
I love this article, loking forward for the next episode :)
madagascar dude
Love the notion that you rate thinking as essential in blogging. At www.oracep.com, so do we. In fact, thinking is fundamental to how our Coning Technology works. We use thinking hierarchies to rate efficiency in writing, using natural language processing.
So we Coned this post and it scored 77%:
70-79% low level background/high level analysis/mid level judgement.
Now, with such objective algorithms tracking thinking in paragraphs and at document level, suddenly writing becomes more competitive, folks are better informed, news becomes more authoritative through competition, and so works the ripple effect. Then don't get me started on how we could value add to search!
Hey, Ilker, we thought you might like to see how some eminent bloggers Cone:
Michelle Malkin 65.5%
Adriana Huffington 82%
Marcos Moulitsas 70.75%
John Battelle 74.25%
Now there's food for thought.
I agree with what black daria said, I love my mac because it's fast, good with graphics, and the OS is solid.
Even as a mac user (mac at home AND work) I can still agree with this post. Let's not forget the stickers! Every Apple product comes with two stickers that people (myself included) like to plaster on their cars and everything else.
Mark of the beast! :P
We need more aware Mac users like you guys =)
I was always suspect of the "passion" the mac users I encountered displayed. First, they always invariably expressed surprise at my using a pc and then tried to grill me on why not a mac. Tiring.
Your blog rocks. I'm glad you stumbled across my page and led me here!
phoenix
http://kissmykimchi.blogspot.com
For a humorous take on the clut of apple, I wrote something a few weeks ago that looks at the 8 factors of a cult.
It is a two parter like yours.
http://www.venturefiles.com/2007/02/02/is-the-cult-of-apple-really-a-cult-part-1/
Apparently I'm not alone into thinking Apple is a cult. Forbes says: Apple's Steve Jobs a 'Cult Celebrity Billionaire Mastermind'.
The article continues: "..Then there is nerd-fame. Perennially clad in a uniform of black turtleneck and jeans, Steve Jobs enjoys cultish celebrity status among fans of Apple, the computer company he founded in 1976. Jobs, worth $5.7 billion, has been touted as a creative mastermind."
I agree with you Ilker. My husband always made fun of my PC....and then when his MAC would crash or get hung up (which happened more or at least as much as the PC) he couldn't see that there was nothing better about the MAC. What bothered me was the blind automatic identification with a culture that was based on a consumer brand. I mean come on, a computer is a tool....a pretty fancy one granted but, but it's not a person. It's also like people who identify with the VW culture or Jeep culture. I can see that there is some validity to those, but when you blindly continue to buy products because you think MAC is a family you are part of then things go too far. (I like VW and Jeep products, but I don't make a purchase based on culture...I pick based on quality of the given product.)
On the flip side, it is human nature to assign human qualities to non-human things if we like them or are around them a lot. (Seen the commercial for a GPS device where the guy in the car starts telling the device he loves it while "Turn Around Bright Eyes" plays in the background?)
So along those lines maybe the reason no one ever felt warm and fuzzy about PC's was that their leader is such a cold business character. Maybe if Richard Branson was running Microsoft, perhaps we woulold see a PC-Loving Cult just like Apple has.
I am an apple fan and if you ask me i totally agree that apple fans are a cult. There is that unexplained brotherhood or friendship when you meet someone else with a mac. Is it because there are/were so few and if you see someone else you feel you think the same way or is it direct influence from steve.
What i personally feel is that if apple has deliberately started this cult like family in order to sell their products my only concern is to what end? If they are going to keep producing reasonably well designed and engineered products that is fine with me. But if there are going to use this blind following to their advantage and create crappy products and convince people to buy it, that will be a problem. For now most of their products are great, and i feel they are currently doing a good job so i don't have any complaints if they are brainwashing people or not. Some people in the world have to be persuaded/decieved on order to see the light :-)
I have to say that I've seen the same type of virulent, knee-jerk anti- behavior from Microsoft users, too. Many won't even consider using an alternative. Try talking to a .NET programmer about PHP, for instance. I can understand some people's reaction to the Get a Mac ads, though, but that's just Apple's unique way of branding. For some, it will always seem like it goes too far. Most of it is pretty much tongue in cheek, though (humor).
You wrote that "Think Different" is not grammatically correct. You are right. But do you really think the Apple marketers don't know it? The fact that it's ungrammatical *is* the point. Maybe you should start to think different.
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