A Letter to Steve Jobs

The Guru Speaks…

Dear Steve:

Your astounding yet so thoroughly anticipated release of the iPhone at MacWorld has lead me to believe that you’ve lost your way. You even went so far as to re-name Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. Apple is not a computer company, you’ve proclaimed, but a consumer electronics company.

Hey, I’m all for revenue diversification, don’t get me wrong, but Steve, do you feel that you’re maybe putting iProfits ahead of iPrinciples? Yes, I intentionally used your i-branding strategy here to illustrate my point and iPollogize if iInsult you. But Steve, Apple has survived because it has historically addressed a niche need in the microcomputer industry, supplying an exceptional and high-quality product that had a very devout consumer following. I can’t help but feel you’re abandoning this core set of consumers by assuming portable electronics hegemony.

Wasn’t it you that said, “Think Different” in an era of Microsoft dominance? Wasn’t it your 1984 television spot that thew a hammer into the largesse face of IBM to announce the Macintosh? Wasn’t the curved, almost effeminent features of the iMac a slap in the face of conventional PC design? In short, hasn’t it been you, the leader of the Rebel Alliance of Mac aficionados, that has stood up to the mass-marketed machines and software Empires of our time and shouted, “Nay, Vader: you are _not_ my father!”

Steve, I must ask: what is Apple if it becomes the very thing that it’s NOT supposed to be?

Think about what I’m saying. Ten years from now, as Apple continues to suck my wallet dry (yes, and this was for one kid: that was $199 for the iPod, $90 for a Shuffle, $199 for the Nano, $225 for the “new” Nano, and now you want $599 for the iPhone?!), and Apple totally controls the market on mobile computing, doesn’t this make Apple the Microsoft or IBM of a new generation?

All I’m trying to say, Steve, is to think about your roots. Apple _strives_ in adversity. Apple _strives_ as a brand because its the underdog. Apple _strives_ and makes excellent products that really aren’t perceived as a commodity. Yet, it looks to me, that you want to change all of that.

iPersonally Think Different: the iStrategy is iFlawed becaused it will turn Apple into the very thing it isn’t. And then where will it leave you? As the monolithic adversary that everybody wants to work against. Good luck with that.

R
www.micklerandassociates.com

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