Steve Jobs

I knew Steve, though by no means well. I ran the Apple PR account for Paul Bergevin in Edelman's Palo Alto office in the late 90s. Those were the days of the first iMac, a novel tool to search for files and things on the web called Sherlock (pre-loaded in OS 8.5), and the Think Different ad campaign.

(Full disclosure: I worked for Apple on the original iMac launch, I have friends there whom I like and respect, and I am a customer. My observations aren't based on any insider knowledge, but rather constitute the musings of an old friend).

The latest great announcement by Steve Jobs, eagerly awaited by the Apple faithful, was not a shiny new product like the next iPhone or iPad – it was something much more profound. As part of a keynote speech delivered this week at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference in downtown San Francisco, Jobs promised nothing less than to kill the Web.

Marketers gaze in envy at brands like Apple. The firm that began with the Mac has turned their customers into legions of fanatical evangelists. But, without a Steve Jobs at the helm, or with fewer resources than Apple, is building that kind of loyalty possible? I’ve got good news: while having a visionary and charismatic CEO is a big plus, it isn’t necessary to build a fan base, or even a fanatic base. One big secret of Apple’s success lies in an experiment conducted 40 years ago.