Apple: The Cult with a Nasdaq Ticker
Funny but thought-provoking discussion on NPR's On the Media about Apple's ability to cloud reporters' minds and turn them into unpaid Apple flacks. The case in recent point, of course, is the over-the-top front-page treatment for the iPhone:BOB GARFIELD: You actually write a column devoted to the whole idea that Apple isn't so much a company as a cult with a ticker symbol. How does a company achieve this status? Is it because they're masters of presentation, or just because they consistently deliver the goods?[via Business News Insider] 1PETE MORTENSON: It's all of the above, and it's also a third piece, which is that they're massively secretive. So essentially they tend to let journalists, pundits and their fans do all of their P.R. for them. I'm told that neither Google nor Yahoo, who worked intimately on software for the iPhone, ever saw it until Jobs introduced it.
I still wasn't convinced there was going to be an iPhone, and if there hadn't been, I think you would have seen Apple's stock plummet yesterday. But because there was, the entire world went nuts with acclaim.
BOB GARFIELD: In the end, this is really — it's a business story. Even Enron had a hard time finding its way to page one. Do you find yourself marveling at how the mainstream press can get so completely hooked?
PETE MORTENSON: I do to a certain extent, but I also think that the fascination is a very simple one. Apple is one of a handful of American companies that is still looked at as the leader in its field. For numerous other fields, companies in Asia and Europe are out in front, so when Apple, started by a pair of good American boys, gets up and does something that really knocks back those kinds of competitors, Americans are out of their seat. It's an amazing story.
