"How Apple Got Everything Right By Doing Everything Wrong" from Wired is exactly the kind of business story I like: one that barely reads like one. For a year in high school, I subscribed to The Economist and I always flipped right to the section on entrepreneurs doing interesting things. This article takes that premise and disseminates it to an even wider audience, taking a company that most of the Wired target audience is intimately familiar with (Apple) and digging into its inner workings.
It's a borderline profile, too, though it certainly has a much wider cast of characters than a typical profile typically yields. We really get to know the way Apple CEO Steve Jobs works, namely, that he's an asshole but no one cares because he's so good at what he does and inspires so much creativity in his employees. More than being an article about Jobs, though, the piece is a rumination on the Apple business model, why it works, and why even minor disappointments lead to what it terms "post-Macworld depression."
The article isn't terribly critical of Apple, though it does bring up some complaints consumers have. It's a slightly fluffy article that has no shortage of praise for Apple. As a satisfied MacBook Pro and iPod Classic owner, it didn't bug me, but perhaps as a critical reader of magazine stories, it did a little bit. Regardless, the style of the article was all in place and made for an enjoyable, breezy read on two subjects – business and technology – that are rarely enjoyable and breezy.
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