Except this time their own followers become the pawns

By Richard M. Sherwin

Almost 30 years ago Steven Jobs threatened to file a lawsuit against me and the New York Daily News for reporting that he had been fired from Apple Computer because of marketing and manufacturing mistakes. When I asked him in a phone conversation if he had been fired he angrily yelled at me and my boss, that “well maybe I had been fired, but if you report it, it might ruin my future” When we asked him whether the $26 million that he and partner Steve Wozniak got as an exit payment could help his future, he yelled an expletive and hung up.

We all know about the tremendous success the late Apple chief accomplished since then, but it was what Jobs did before the firing that always intrigued me, and is relevant, now that Apple has become the establishment.

Back in 1984 Apple sheepishly made its mark against the establishment by launching an historic anti IBM commercial showing millions of followers following the accepted norm by buying IBM compatible personal computers.

The commercial won awards, yet only a few people actually changed their minds and purchased an Apple Computer. Yes, some effete art director ad agency types thought it was cool to get an Apple and, of course, the Macintosh became the establishment in many design studios, but most businesses and personal computer users still believed that Apple products were too overpriced and not worth the difference. So, up until Apple’s reemergence 10 years ago, most people who actually needed a computer purchased a cheaper, better and many times more reliable PC.

Apple has become the bully it was always accusing Microsoft and IBM of being.

It has chalked up such unbelievable profit margins by producing  cheap products overseas. While their Lemmings fans truly believe they are buying and using the Mercedes or BMW of the technology world, in many instances they are paying a Mercedes price for a Hyundai. So now the Cupertino based Apple has more money in the bank than nearly every country in the world. And it is launching law suits to force out some competitors.  (Most experts I talked to believe that it was just bad lawyering by Samsung that helped Apple win $ 1 billion.) Apple is also going to try and squeeze out Internet radio leader Pandora by removing Pandora from Apple products.

The Apple TV II (which even Jobs considered one of the worst products ever and no more than a toy) will launch in January of 2013 and already has conventional TV makers quaking, not because of its sort of TiVo rip off features, but because of the Lemmings factor.

The Lemmings factor does have some critics though: even though IPhone V sales will reach 50 million by the holidays, early twice as many Android phones will be sold by then.

And there are arguable better and cheaper Apps for the Android operating system. But you can’t say that to all these people buying an IPhone or IPad because their friends bought an Apple product. They are just Lemmings!

So I think all of the opposition should get together and run the Lemming commercial in reverse.