How Apple Stays Divine

The iPhone Antennagate is, for most intents and purposes, over. Apple’s free-case quick fix for the problem tamped down consumer anger — and Apple’s great earnings report blasted its problems off the front page. Analysts predict the issue won’t materially affect the company’s next financial reports.

The long-term impacts of the problem are less clear. Will unforeseen negative repercussions emerge in the future? Did Antennagate cause some kind of fundamental shift in Apple’s relationship with its core fans?

There are scholars who study Apple’s consumers as religious devotees. Consumer behavior specialists Russell Belk of York University and Gulnur Tumbat of San Francisco State, even put together a framework for assessing Apple’s mystical mythology. The company was built on four key myths, they argued.

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