Appletopia: Media Technology and the Religious Imagination of Steve Jobs - Hardcover

Robinson, Brett T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 160258821X ISBN 13: 9781602588219

Publisher: Baylor University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Steve Jobs knew what he was doing. Long before others understood the potential of the personal computer, he saw its true power. But it was his visionary use of media to explain technology to a hungry culture that revealed his singular genius. In Appletopia, media and culture critic Brett T. Robinson reconstructs Steve Jobs' imagination for digital innovation in transcendent terms. From Zen Buddhism and Catholicism to dystopian and futurist thought, religion defined and branded Jobs' design methodology. Robinson resurrects Jobs' uncanny ability to integrate philosophical and religious thought with technological genius, laying the groundwork for Apple's ubiquity today. As it turns out, culture was eager to find meaning in the burgeoning technological revolution, naming Jobs as its prophet and Apple's advertising as its gospel.

About this title

About the Author:

Brett T. Robinson is Visiting Professor of Marketing in the Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, where he also studied marketing and English literature. His doctorate is from the University of Georgia where he helped establish the New Media Institute in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Robinson's interests include the philosophy of technology and the integration of the liberal arts with business teaching and research. He currently lives with his wife Danielle and four children in South Bend, Indiana.

Review:

Appletopia transcends the popular media depictions of Saint Steve Jobs and the Cult of Apple through a serious and insightful analysis of transcendence itself and how it is that we came to regard Apple products as so much more than mere commodities.

(Russell Belk, Kraft Foods Canada Chair in Marketing, Schulich School of Business, York University)

Appletopia provides an engaging exploration of the religious narratives, iconography and transcendent meaning-making associated with all things Apple. This calls readers to reflect on the playful and provocative ways technology can be intertwined with the religious within contemporary technoculture, and the potential cultural implications of such intersections.

(Heidi Campbell, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Texas A&M University)

As expansive as it is concise, Brett Robinson's Appletopia provides an astute and often scintillating examination of Steve Jobs and the Apple way.

(Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows and The Big Switch)

Brett T. Robinson explores how Apple's ads became icons and their technology turned into talisman. Appletopia reveals why we're so devoted to our devices.

(Craig Detweiler, Professor of Communication and Director of the Center for Entertainment, Media, and Culture, Pepperdine University)

Appletopia is a splendid look at the deeply spiritual meanings of computer technologies (the 'Mac') and saintly heroes (Steve Jobs) in contemporary culture. It's a fun, fascinating, and even prophetic read.

(Quentin J. Schultze, Arthur H. DeKruyter Chair, DeVos Communication Center, Calvin College)

About this edition

• Publisher: Baylor University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 160258821X
• ISBN 13: 9781602588219
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 159