Has the cult of Mac been upgraded to a religion?

Like Richard Dreyfuss over his mashed potatoes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I pondered this video, realizing "This means something" without being able to really put my finger on what it was.

Apple's faithful for years were referred to as the Cult of Mac. Now that Apple has gained greater ground in the market with the wildly successful progression of iMac/iPod/iPhone/iPad, and since these products still seem to endow their users with some sort of social status, you wonder if Mac hasn't achieved a kind of blessing - an upgrade, if you will - to religion.

All metaphors eventually break down, of course, but Andy Jordan's accompanying article on the reverence and relationship of the creative class with Apple still resonates.

Posted by Torey Lightcap on April 17, 2011 12:25 PM | |
Comments (4)

Hmmm. No, my iPhone, Macbook and iMac are not objects of worship. And I have little interest in an iPad which isn't a real computer. Apple isn't my god but it is my only choice of computer equipment because I'm lazy and Windows is too complicated. Awhile back someone asked me what I'd do if I won a fancy Windows machine. Of course, I'd sell it and get a newer Mac. I'm not about to get a newer god however.

Posted by Shelley Huston [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 17, 2011 7:09 PM

Or reformat it with Linux!

Posted by Caoilin Galthie [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 17, 2011 10:05 PM

We can say a bit more about the cult:

1) That bit in the video about "having the secret" --Sounds like Gnosticism :-)

2) Apple is trying to make their app stores the only place to buy software for their devices = Single source of revelation, sounds fundamentalist :-)

3) The higher price of Apple hardware is of course a tithe :-)

FWIW, I use Linux when I can and Windows when I must.

Glenn McDavid

Posted by Glenn [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 18, 2011 2:14 PM

Apple is trying to make their app stores the only place to buy software for their devices

I think you miss the boat on the Mac App Store and the iTunes/iOS App Store. Apple is making the two stores the sole source of its own software. It is not interested in shooting down other legitimate steams of obtaining 3rd party apps for your Apple devices.

The simplicity of installation required of apps sold by Apple's app stores will mean that there are many apps that would never be able to be sold from one of the app stores. Think, perhaps, of the Adobe Creative Suites of apps; Photoshop, InDesign, etc.

David Allen

"Happily using Macs for 26+ years!"

Posted by Hermano David | Brother Dav•veed [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 18, 2011 9:20 PM

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