Communications of the ACM

Home/Magazine Archive/December 2011 (Vol. 54, No. 12)/The Most Ancient Marketing/Abstract

The Most Ancient Marketing

By Jaron Lanier
Communications of the ACM, December 2011, Vol. 54 No. 12, Pages 22-23
10.1145/2043174.2043204
Comments (1)

View as: Print Mobile App ACM Digital Library In the Digital Edition Share:

Steve Jobs, illustration — Credit: Gluekit / Photograph by AP Photo / Paul Sakuma

Before Apple, Steve Jobs famously went to India with a college friend. While I never had occasion to talk to Jobs about it, I have a theory I wish I had a chance to try out on him. The theory is that Jobs saw gurus in India, focal points of love and respect, surrounded by devotees, and thought to himself, "I want that job!"

The full text of this article is premium content

Comments

Anonymous

January 15, 2012 09:37

Excellent commentary. As I recall from my own travels in psychedelic guru circles, the management/enlightenment technique referred to (the abusive part)was known as "the Rod of Ridicule."

It's striking to read Lanier's comment that Jobs "remains the only figure in a non-engineering role I have ever seen win this race against engineers outright."

I assume there's a win/some lose/some dynamic at work here, but which side most often comes out on top, I wonder?

Displaying 1 comment

Log in to Read the Full Article

Sign In

Sign in using your ACM Web Account username and password to access premium content if you are an ACM member, Communications subscriber or Digital Library subscriber.

Need Access?

Please select one of the options below for access to premium content and features.

Create a Web Account

If you are already an ACM member, Communications subscriber, or Digital Library subscriber, please set up a web account to access premium content on this site.

Join the ACM

Become a member to take full advantage of ACM's outstanding computing information resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM Magazine

Get full access to 50+ years of CACM content and receive the print version of the magazine monthly.

Purchase the Article

Non-members can purchase this article or a copy of the magazine in which it appears.