Worshipping at the Altar of Mac

Umberto Eco, the Italian semiologist, once famously compared Macs and PCs to the two main branches of the Christian faith: Catholics and Protestants.

The Mac is Catholic, he wrote in his back-page column of the Italian news weekly, Espresso, in September 1994. It is "cheerful, friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach -- if not the Kingdom of Heaven -- the moment in which their document is printed."

The Windows PC, on the other hand, is Protestant. It demands "difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: A long way from the baroque community of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment."

Eco was joking, but, as some experts have noted, the Mac community does in fact resemble a religion. As do Mac users themselves.

"For many Mac people, I think (the Mac community) has a religious feeling to it," said psychologist David Levine, a self-confessed Mac nut. "For a lot of people who are not comfortable with religion, it provides a community and a common heritage. I think Mac users have a certain common way of thinking, a way of doing things, a certain mindset.

"People say they are a Buddhist or a Catholic," he added. "We say we're Mac users, and that means we have similar values."

Russell Belk, a consumer behaviorist at the University of Utah, goes further. He argues that the Mac community is quasi-religious.

Belk has been studying the Mac community for a couple of years, and has produced a video monograph called The Cult of Macintosh based on a series of interviews with Mac users. It was shown in public for the first time in October at a marketing conference in Atlanta.

"The Mac and its fans constitute the equivalent of a religion," Belk wrote in the video's abstract. "This religion is based on an origin myth for Apple Computer, heroic and savior legends surrounding its co-founder and current CEO Steve Jobs, the devout faith of its follower congregation, their belief in the righteousness of the Macintosh, the existence of one or more Satanic opponents, Mac believers proselytizing and converting nonbelievers, and the hope among cult members that salvation can be achieved by transcending corporate capitalism."

Religion, Belk said, is a belief structure that helps people make sense of the world. The "cult of Mac" is a set of beliefs about Apple and the Mac that make sense of the world of technology. It also imparts the community with a quasi-religious character.

In the monograph, Belk argues that Steve Jobs is revered as a deity, with the power to create or destroy. Apple's "corporate mythology" portrays him as a "savior." Jobs' life story, in fact, adheres closely to the classic heroic adventure myths delineated by Joseph Campbell, Belk noted.

Just like the legends of Odysseus, Jason, Krishna or Christ, the Jobs' mythology contains the same key elements:

* The call to adventure: joining the Homebrew Computer Club.

* A helper: Steve Wozniak.

* A wondrous journey: the explosive growth of the early PC industry.

* Trials: competition from IBM and failures like the Lisa and Apple III.

* More helpers: the engineers and artists who created the first Mac.

* Apotheosis: Jobs is anointed as the technology industry's seer, a prophet.

* Flight: the expulsion from Apple and a decade in the wilderness at Next Computer.

* Resurrection: the return to Apple.

* The boon that restores the world –- the iMac and subsequent hit products.

Belk noted that Jobs is often portrayed as saintly and ascetic: He draws no salary, he is a nonsmoking vegan. Belk said Mac users have a love/hate relationship with Jobs. He can be a visionary or a despotic tyrant.

While conducting the interviews for the video, Belk said he noticed how Mac users frequently referred to the community as religious in character. Mac users talk about "evangelizing" the platform, being "persecuted" for using a Mac in a Windows-dominated world and the "sacrifices" they make for their choice of computer.

"It was an analogy that occurred to them before," he said. "It really strikes a chord…. They're in a minority and they're suffering for their beliefs. There's a feeling of martyrdom that has been cultivated."

Belk said Mac users often invoke moral reasons for their choice of machine. To some, it's nothing less than good versus evil. Bill Gates and Microsoft are satanic, the "evil empire," motivated solely by profit. Apple, on the other hand, is driven to create innovative technology. "I'd rather follow a cause that has a noble undertaking than one that is mercenary," one interviewee told Belk.

Apple's marketing department works hard to foster the devotion of its followers, Belk said. The corporate myth of the company's founding -- two guys in a garage -- resonates with biblical overtones. "It's a miraculous birth in humble surroundings," Belk said.

The Apple logo is another biblical reference, Belk said. Apple employed a chief evangelist, Guy Kawasaki, whose job was to bring "good news" to the Mac congregation via the Evangelist mailing list. At one point, Kawasaki attended Billy Graham's School of Evangelism.

Belk said some Mac users were more extreme than others, and many projected their own "closet fanaticism," in Belk's words, onto others perceived as more zealous. However, Belk said all the interviewees repeated the same ideas, which told Belk they shared common beliefs.

The Mac community may resemble a congregation, but is it a cult, full of zombie-like fans, slavishly devoted to Apple and all its works? Would Mac fans quaff poisoned Kool-Aid if Steve Jobs commanded it?

The press certainly thinks so. Apple is constantly referred to as a "cult brand," and Mac users as the "cult of Mac."

Author Douglas Rushkoff says the Mac community has all the hallmarks of a cult. He devoted a chapter to the cult of Macintosh in a recent book, Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say.

According to Rushkoff, Mac users perceive themselves as a persecuted minority, a telltale cult trait. And the line between self-image and the Apple brand is often blurred. Mac users work on Macs, their friends work on Macs, they wear Apple-logo shirts and drive cars sporting Apple stickers.

"The Mac, like any cult product, is seen as a way for a person to become more who they are," Rushkoff wrote in an e-mail. "Like a Harley helps identify a biker more than any of the 'rice-eaters' that the majority ride, a Mac helps a person create a sense of individuation. At least in image, if not in reality."

For Rushkoff, the clearest sign is the donation of time and energy to sell computers on Apple's behalf. Rushkoff was amazed to discover that Mac enthusiasts went to computer stores to act as volunteer salespeople in the hope of converting nonbelievers.

Even Mac users describe the community as a cult. Rodney Lain, a popular online columnist, noted the Mac community is insular, polarized, elitist and preoccupied with recruiting new members.

"The Mac community -- some of us, anyway -- exhibits characteristics of cult behavior," he wrote. "Read some of the Mac-related mailing lists. Sometimes, you'll cringe at the fanaticism. Keep in mind that I am a Mac fanatic myself. I should know one when I see one."

Dave Arnott, author of Corporate Cults, said the Mac community shows signs of cult-like devotion: Mac users are completely dedicated to the platform, they are isolated from the mainstream and, in Steve Jobs, they have a charismatic leader.

"Some (Mac users) seem to have made an irrational decision to stay with the system when perhaps they should have not," he said. "That's cult-like devotion."

Arnott noted that many cult members feel besieged, and that external pressure leads to greater group cohesion. This is true of Mac users, who feel under constant threat from Microsoft.

But Arnott said the Mac is certainly not a cult. Devotion to the Mac is no different to devotion to a car, or a hobby like rollerblading.

"We are all culted to some extent," he said. "But how culted are we? It's a question of commitment. I'm committed to my car. But I would give it up. It depends on the depth of the commitment."

Steve Hassan, a clinical psychologist, author and cult expert, agreed. "There's definitely a cult of Mac out there," he said. "I guess I could be called a member of that group. I'm also a member of the cult of bicycles, scuba diving and a few other things I care about. As long as it's not destructive, it's a healthy affiliation."

But Hassan, a member of the Moonies during the 1970s who has deprogrammed members of destructive cults, was quick to point out that true cults -- like David Koresh's Branch Davidians -- are authoritarian, have a pyramid structure, and practice behavior modification and mind control.

"There is a vast difference between the Mac cult and a destructive cult," Hassan said. "There's a continuum from healthy to destructive. If everyone needed to dress like Steve Jobs, talk like Steve Jobs and think like Steve Jobs, you'd have a cult."