I once attended a lecture in college where the professor stood up at the front of the class and blurted out, “You want to change history? Change the Textbooks!” It may not be news to most today, but at the time, it kinda took me back a little bit. It was my first year in college and I hadn’t really thought about it before, but it seemed to be a logical conclusion. If you give students a new perspective you can change history forever. The sentiment has stuck with me ever since.
Convincing today’s youth that your products are the best means that they’ll support your ideals when they grow up.
Tech companies are in the business of expanding their empires, and not unlike nation-states, they do this through hegemonic practices. By keeping an eye on future generations, companies are already setting the stage for their products for ten to fifteen years down the road.
Why is Microsoft’s applications so dominant in the corporate sector? The IT professionals calling the shots grew up in the industry during a time when Microsoft was making huge inroads at college’s and universities around the world. It’s done them well, and they’ve increased their market share continuously based on that simple premise alone.
It’d would do Apple good if they focused on the same approach. Convincing todays youth that Apple tech is superior will rewrite the history of tomorrow. The concept isn’t lost on Cupertino, and there’s certainly ground work in place to capitalize on the youth of tomorrow.
Piper Jaffery has recently announced that iPhone demand amongst students is on the rise.In 2009, 8% of surveyed students already owned an iPhone, and 16% were expecting to buy an iPhone over the next six months period. But, today the numbers have increased dramatically from last year. 14% of students currently surveyed owned an iPhone and another 31% were expecting to purchase an iPhone in the upcoming months.
Being able to utilize the youths interest in Apple today could directly impact the bottom line of Apple tomorrow. Hopefully they’re doing all the can to get their products in the hands of the youth. If they’re lucky, the elusive enterprise market may just be around the corner.
