"By positioning Jobs as the creative force behind Apple's products, the company has made his health a public concern. I wish Mr. Jobs well. Perhaps during his leave of absence Apple can showcase other "faces" and make it clear that its current and future products are the result of Apple's corporate vision and genius, not only Steve Jobs' latest idea." --Lou Malnasssy at ragan.com's 'PR Junkie'.
I love my ipod. I love my imac. I even love the Apple products I can't afford, including their stock.
Apple stock has become increasingly more affordable in recent days as Internet chatter about CEO Steve Jobs' health creates shareholder anxiety.
With the current and future vision of Apple in question, I offer the curious parallel this situation has with the arch of megaband, 'Guns 'N Roses'.
Lou's comment could easily describe Geffen Record's positioning of Axl Rose as the sole creative force behind Guns 'N Roses in the late 1980's.
In actuality, GNR began as a synthesis of all member's creative vision. The band itself was the combination of two bands, L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. Over time, Axl the front man, eventually acquired a disproportionate amount of creative credit.
Early videos of Guns 'N Roses showcase a democratic environment. Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin banter with the Sunset Strip crowd as much a pre-Appetite For Destruction Axl.
Similar to Jobs' personal rise to fame, public interest in all things Axl (including his (mental) health) soon developed, disproportionate to his collaborators.
As we came to love and buy GNR products, Geffen Records assumed the model of frontman-as-talent was working once more and perpetuated it.
In stark contrast to the image propogated by Geffen Records, in a 1991 interview Axl described the collaborative process utilized on the then soon-to-be-released "Use Your Illusion" albums as nothing short of Democratic.
By then the future of Guns 'N Roses' had already begun unraveling with the axing of strung out drummer Steven Adler. Izzy Stradlin then left in the middle of the European Leg of the Illusion Tour. Slash left sometime in 1994 due officially to artistic differences. Duff McKagan left in 1997.
Axl retained the legal rights to the Guns 'N Roses name and employed a revolving phone book of musicians while spending $13 Million over seventeen years to do the same job five kids did half-drunk and better.
Enter 'Chinese Democracy'. An oxymoronic album name to mirror Axl's dictatorial regime. Guns 'N Roses exists only as a name and a memory. To his credit, 'Chinese Democracy' is great, but iconic for the wrong reasons.
Recessions have ill effects on marriages. And the current recession is for Apple what the onset of the Grunge and Hip Hop movements was to Guns 'N Roses. Faced with great uncertainty, Guns 'N Roses self-destructed.
Apple would be well served to recognize the elements outside their control which dominate this moment in their history.
Faced with a Recession and Jobs' extended absence, Apple will surely restructure. Perhaps like Axl, they will realize that 50 people couldn't do what once took five.
Hopefully for all of us, the wait for the next Apple invention is shorter than seventeen years. The worst progections have this Recession lasting until 2010.
When the economy does cycle back and the masses can once again afford Apple's non-essentials, in all likelyhood it will be without Jobs as frontman. And in that sense, a better Apple parallel than GNR might be Velvet Revolver.
But Apple's next big thing can certainly look forward to the same unrealistically high expectations as 'Chinese Democracy'-- unfortunately, a recipe for disappointment.
On the flip side, Apple's next big thing will no doubt sell. They can bank on a good bounce from previously satisfied customers. They will benefit from the syncopation of the gears of nostalgia and hipness (ala the 'Guitar Hero' video game genre). And frankly, like the incessant repetition of 'Welcome To The Jungle' during 4th quarter timeouts at Chicago Bulls games, Apple is ingrained in our culture.
Ultimately, cultural phenomenon or not, the instant gratification Apple has afforded their clientele will be their undoing, Steve Jobs or not, if their can't satisfy.
Perpetual hope is one thing, a phenomenon who's moment has past is another.
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2 comments:
Well according to your model, Axl's fans obviously had reason to be concerned about his mental well being. The band they "invested" in disintegrated. 17 disappointing years later they resurface and the product is so-so. Apple shareholders best take note!
You offer an insightful warning to Apple and very organization that rests its fortune on one supremely talented individual.
Just look at the Chicago Bulls for another example. How many titles have hey captured since Jordan left the team?
Zero.
One thing: Guns 'n' Roses began as a democratic regime. Apple, as far as I can tell, never profited from democracy but instead the guidance of an autocratic regime--namely Steve Jobs.
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