Apple's Success in terms of Mythology

 I really admire Apple as a company, for the late Steve Jobs' leadership, the great product portfolio that they have, the marvelous brand recall, and cult following that they have managed to build over the years. Everybody knows what they are doing still nobody is able to build another iPad or another Mac. Is there a parallel in mythology and can Apple's success be decoded in mythological terms?

ihave always loved the Apple logo, a bitten apple, no doubt alluding to the Forbidden Fruit eaten by Eve and Adam, symbol of the Original Sin, the act of transgression that led to humanity being cast out of Eden.

From what I have read and heard of Steve Jobs, he loved to transgress, break boundaries, and challenge the gods, with his innovation. He is the classic Greek hero, like Achilles of Iliad and Odysseus of Odyssey, whose win the admiration of their peers, and their envy, by their extraordinary feats. And like Greek heroes, he too was struck by hubris, excessive pride, with cancer and the realization of his own mortality becoming his nemesis.

Steve Jobs changed the world forever. His designs reveal a very astute understanding of human nature.

He allegedly said that the 'customer does not know what he wants'. That is so right. There are so many wants and needs buried in our subconscious that we are not even aware of. Like Prometheus, Titan of foresight, he anticipated human need before humans. Contrary to popular opinion, he knew that too many choices confuse and confound and so in his shop choices were kept to a minimum.

He decided what was best for the customer and the customer agreed. Most importantly, he realized that humans are lazy. Like a magician we want a wand that when waved changed the world and so he created a computer without a keypad and a keypad without keys. In nature, inside the womb, the first sense to develop is the sense of touch. This is the primary source of pleasure. He exploited it when he innovated with the touch pad screens. Every time you feel joy when you run your hand across a screen and find it transform at will, know how deep Steve Jobs' understanding was of human psychology and physiology.

Apple changed the world forever. But did Apple change Steve Jobs? I do not think so. When you see the launch of the Mac and then the launch of the iPad you actually see the same man, older but essentially the same, arrogant and self-assured in his brilliance, though a tight turtleneck has now replaced the bow tie.

Here is a man who could not handle India, spiritual leanings and vegetarian habits notwithstanding. The chaos was too much to take. Here was a man who loved to control everything, simplify designs, and keep everything close to his chest. He hated sharing ideas and letting his products talk to other products. He frowned upon mediocrity and found it too hard to be generous. India where you have to 'adjust' in order to survive would have been impossible to handle.

And India would have told him, that no matter how hard you try, the world will move on. One day Steve Jobs' and Apple will be forgotten just as we have forgotten who the first man, or woman, who invented the wheel and the first man, or woman, who domesticated fire. It is the nature of man to believe that his lifetime is the span of the cosmos. It is the nature of man to believe his contribution will solve all the problems of the world. Sadly it isn't so.