The Cult of Apple

Apple’s appeal has gone beyond good business inspiring in its customers firm loyalty to the brand and a following that resembles religious devotion. “Under the blue skies of Western California lie the headquarters of a multi-billion dollar institution with a global army of loyal supporters. It is an organisation built around one man’s vision, is obsessed with secrecy, and many of its followers could fairly be described as devotees. No, it is not the Church of Scientology. It is Apple, the computing and technology giant seeking (once again) to redefine the way we use electronic devices. After months of hype the iPad, Apple’s new touch-screen tablet computer, is finally available in stores across America. Early reviews have been positive; the Wall Street Journal is calling it a ‘game-changer’, USA Today says the iPad is ‘rewriting the rulebook’. One New York Times technology correspondent waxed so lyrical about the device that a popular computing blog teasingly accused him of having ‘intimate encounters with his iPad’. Such powerful responses to Apple’s products are nothing new. We know there is something about the company that can persuade people to queue for hours in order to spend hundreds of dollars on a device they never knew they needed; but what is it?”