Interesting study in human nature
After reading this article and some of the responses to it, I have to say that one thing sticks out to me. Changing mind sets is really difficult. This has worked for Jobs and against him. First off, he realized this when he started to market to upper middle class non-technical people and has established Apple as a brand. The result is that if Apple started making tooth brushes, people would have the idea that Apple made the best tooth brushes and he could see them for $40 if he wanted. But it has also worked against him when it comes to people who work in the I.T. industry. Many of us, myself included, still see Apple as a niche market and don't take them seriously. The positive for Jobs is that this mind set is starting to change and this can be attributed to the IPhone. The same IT guy that would never buy an IMac will buy an IPhone. All the executives including our CIO and my boss have them and would give up oxygen before they would give up their IPhones. The only potential hurdle I see is the cost factor but then again, they market to a more affluent market which tends to spend regardless of the economy.
