Steve Jobs, High Priest and Prophet

Apple is a new religion, and Steve Jobs was its high priest by Michael S. Rosenwald:

Steve Jobs was not religious. Although he dabbled in Buddhism (and acid), he never embraced the idea of organized religion, a fact that makes the Apple religion all the more ironic — particularly his place in its belief system.

His product introductions were not unlike the pope appearing at his Vatican window to bless his followers on Christmas. People would line up for hours to snag a seat for a Jobs keynote address. He would stroll onstage like a biblical prophet, dressed down to a modern version of the basics — black turtleneck, Levi’s jeans, New Balance sneakers. For many Apple followers, this was the nearest they would ever come to seeing God. In her study, Lam quoted one fan saying, “For me, the Mac was the closest thing to religion I could deal with.”

Steve Jobs: The Secular Prophet by Andy Crouch:

Steve Jobs was extraordinary in countless ways—as a designer, an innovator, a (demanding and occasionally ruthless) leader. But his most singular quality was his ability to articulate a perfectly secular form of hope. Nothing exemplifies that ability more than Apple’s early logo, which slapped a rainbow on the very archetype of human fallenness and failure—the bitten fruit—and turned it into a sign of promise and progress.