John Heilemann of New York Magazine has asked perhaps the most important question about Apple's marketing genius Steve Jobs: With iPhone, has he peaked?
From the article titled Steve Jobs in a Box
Of course, if the iPhone is a runaway success, Jobs won't have to surrender anything-and it very well may be. Less than two weeks from now, when the phone hits the streets, the consumerist pandemonium will likely be hysterical. Once again, Jobs may have fashioned a totemic object that will capture the culture-and cause rival CEOs to have coronary events. No one else in history has pulled of this kind of coup, as Jobs has, with four different products. The Apple II. The Mac. The iPod. The computer-animated feature film. Betting against a track record like that would be a dangerous wager. Especially when you know, deep down, that you want an iPhone. Bad.
But Jobs has been wrong before. And if the iPhone proves a disappointment, his reputation will take a precipitous tumble: from unerring visionary to just another overreaching mogul. What's at stake for Jobs, then, isn't money or power-for no matter how the iPhone fares, he'll still have both in abundance. What's at stake is the thing that now must matter to him above all: the ending of his story.
I think the bigger question is: What's next for Steve Jobs? His marketing prowess remains relevant and his aggressiveness is far from over. If Google wants to dominate the mobile industry, Jobs might want to conquer the Internet world in return! But please loose the "i" on the next brand!
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