The Cult of the Product

http://20bits.com/articles/the-cult-of-the-product/

by ntoshev • 18 years ago

28 10 18 years ago

20bits.com

goodgoblin• 18 years ago

The embedded Steve Jobs video is worth the price of admission.

josefresco• 18 years ago

The rest, not so much.

Using Apple to talk about successful branding and cults is like using The Beatles as an example of how to become a successful rock band.

Tell me about a company that isn't on the 'rock star' level which has a cult following and I'd be interested.

jfarmer4• 18 years ago

I'm not talking about companies that have a cult following, I'm talking about the perceptions of Apple's design process and how many web startups often try to emulate that fantasy version -- to their detriment.

I guess using Apple as an example made that confusion more likely, but the way they project their design process is part of why people are so obsessed about their products.

noonespecial• 18 years ago

That was fascinating. In just a few years after that video the desktop pc that he marginalized there on the right became so ubiquitous and so powerful that it completely erased all of that market segmentation and swallowed up everything.

They never saw it coming. Nice to see every once in a while that Steve is a mere mortal as well.

jfarmer4• 18 years ago

Hey, cool! My article.

This was put together from two comments I made here, actually.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=341372 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=330576 (there is where the title comes from)

The problem is that many web people just focus on the product, and only the product. If they're smart they focus on a product that fits a market.

But very few people focus on distribution, which is a necessary component of any successful product. And no, getting on TechCrunch is not a distribution strategy.

jeeringmole• 18 years ago

The words "web" and "start-up" could both be dropped: many companies at many stages in many spaces have fallen under this spell.

jfarmer4• 18 years ago

Yep, totally agree, I just thought it would be more consumable if I focused it towards the web start-up world.

jfarmer4• 18 years ago

BTW, I'd love to meet up with any HN folks here in Palo Alto. Drop me a line at jesse@20bits.com or on Twitter: http://twitter.com/farmerje

sobriquet• 18 years ago

What was/is facebook's distribution strategy?

lacker• 18 years ago

People invite their friends.

The Cult of the Product

Related Stories