Don’t ask me how I wound up delving into the investigation, but if you do some searches on the subject, “Steve Jobs Evil Genius” returns some very interesting results. Apparently I am not the only person in the world resistant to Apple and their easy to use products. Though its been a lonely road up until now, pealing back layer after layer of the Apple enigma through Google and Yahoo searches offers some solice (as you are well aware, everything on the internet is the gospel truth).
Apple photo by enricoagostoni via Diviantart Creative Commons
Rumor has it that Steve Jobs is a control freak. I think it was a recent interview on NPR where I listened to an Apple employee describe how Jobs sent a new Ipod back to engineering the night before a big unveiling event because he found that the headphones didn’t make a “click” when they were plugged in. Jobs said something to the effect of the customer expects to hear a click. And so Jobs said “let there be clicks,” and then there were clicks. Those clicks also came back under budget, well before the deadline and in 15 assorted colors.
A buddy of mine swears by his Mac. “No virus protection” he boasts. “Apple has never had a virus so no need;” he continued. I am predisposed to being risk-averse so these statements are contradictary to my fundamental make-up, but I listened… and I wondered. How could Jobs pull this off? Is a Mac really better than a PC? Has Apple figured out the secret of life too? These questions will remain unanswered as I am not a techie, but rather a finance guy… and the spreadsheet I was using to calculate the probabilities to answer said questions has locked up.
I am not in the position to answer these rumors so I will do my part to perpetuate them with this post. I am not ready to label Steve Jobs “Darth Vader” and Apple “The Deathstar,” but it is intriquing how a computer geek could actually be a marketing genius and a operations genius. I am thinking he has help executing his diabolical plans – which contradicts the control freak rumors.
I know a few things about Apple. The company is well run. They always impress Wall Street with great numbers. Their products do seem to be superior than their competitors. I would rather be on the side of Jobs than against him. Remember when they found the Iphone prototype in some seedy silicone valley bar and Apple was accused to planting it there for PR? I heard the guy that developed it disappeared that night. Just another Apple rumor I suppose. Its difficult to sift through the rumors to find facts. If I disappear after publishing this post, you know where to go first!
Could Jobs just be successful by being so in tuned with his customers that he knows what they want before they do? Or could it be his marketing? He locks customers in with the exclusive interconnectivity of the Apple products and only adds products that can also work well with the others. Maybe Jobs offers the forbidden fruit that is Apple to unsuspecting consumers and once they get a bite they are hooked, just like crack. The consumer can’t get enough. They rob from their parents just to get the new Iphone upgrade and new Apple interventions are being conducted by desperate families all over the world.
I heard a rumor that Jobs doesn’t use his own products. It makes sense. Everyone knows if you are going to survive peddling your “goods,” you don’t get high on your own supply.
My conclusion is that Steve Jobs must be a “genius.” I was leaning toward “evil genius,” but dropped the “evil” after reading his inspiring 2005 graduation speech at Stanford. Which, I highly recommend you read if you are confused, frustrtated, scared, lost, had a setback, will have a setback, lost perspective or have a general longing for inspiration in life. Click below to read now.
Tags: AAPL, Apple, Control Freak, Evil Genius, Inspiration, Inspirational Graduation Speech, Iphone, Ipod, Mac, Stanford, Steve Jobs
