Apple: Inside the cult

Why do pundits want to be Steve Jobs so badly?

Here's my idea for a hot new video game: SimJobs, in which you get to play the part of Apple's CEO. Now you too can be a Fake Steve Jobs! Make pricing and design decisions, create new product lines, go head-to-head with Steve Ballmer!

Such a game would be profitable because it would meet a pent-up demand from people who already feel very strongly that they know how to run Apple better than the current management. I know, I know, indulge me as I harp a bit longer on the $800 laptop rumors that didn't not even a little happen. There were any number of people who bought into those rumors not because they believed they were accurate but because they believed that they should be accurate -- some going to the trouble of making elaborate fantasy spreadsheets about their impact on Apple's bottom line (something you'll be able to do in SimJobs, by the way). And now they're pissed.

The new MacBooks have been dismissed as a minor move and falling short, because they aren't cheap enough. The Brits think that Apple "should bite the bullet and slash prices." Alex Zaharov-Reutt says the Apple has disappointed by not fulfilling a rumor that he admits was only a rumor.

Oh, and, by the way, Apple's market share is growing six times faster than the PC market as a whole. But think of how much better it would be doing if you were CEO, and you put out low-margin, cut-quality laptops to compete with those companies that see hardware as a commodity!

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